1-1 By: Fraser S.B. No. 1756
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 14, 1997; March 24, 1997, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
1-4 April 10, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 13,
1-5 Nays 0; April 10, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the exemption of certain persons from the provisions of
1-9 the Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 3, Private Investigators
1-12 and Private Security Agencies Act (Article 4413 (29bb), Vernon's
1-13 Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-14 (a) This Act does not apply to:
1-15 (1) a person employed exclusively and regularly by one
1-16 employer in connection with the affairs of an employer only and
1-17 where there exists an employer-employee relationship; provided,
1-18 however, any person who shall carry a firearm in the course of his
1-19 employment shall be required to obtain a private security officer
1-20 commission under the provisions of this Act;
1-21 (2) except as provided by Subsection (d) of this
1-22 Section, an officer or employee of the United States of America, or
1-23 of this State or political subdivision of either, while the
1-24 employee or officer is engaged in the performance of official
1-25 duties;
1-26 (3) a person who has full-time employment as a peace
1-27 officer, who receives compensation for private employment on an
1-28 individual or an independent contractor basis as a patrolman,
1-29 guard, or watchman if the officer:
1-30 (A) is employed in an employee-employer
1-31 relationship or employed on an individual contractual basis;
1-32 (B) is not in the employ of another peace
1-33 officer;
1-34 (C) is not a reserve peace officer; and
1-35 (D) works as a peace officer on the average of
1-36 at least 32 hours a week, is compensated by the state or a
1-37 political subdivision of the state at the rate of the minimum wage
1-38 or higher, and is entitled to all employee benefits offered to a
1-39 peace officer by the state or political subdivision;
1-40 (4) a person engaged exclusively in the business of
1-41 obtaining and furnishing information for purposes of credit
1-42 worthiness or collecting debts or ascertaining the financial
1-43 responsibility of applicants for property insurance and for
1-44 indemnity or surety bonds, with respect to persons, firms, and
1-45 corporations;
1-46 (5) an attorney-at-law in performing his duties;
1-47 (6) admitted insurers, insurance adjusters, agents,
1-48 and insurance brokers licensed by the State, performing duties in
1-49 connection with insurance transacted by them;
1-50 (7) a person who engages exclusively in the business
1-51 of repossessing property that is secured by a mortgage or other
1-52 security interest;
1-53 (8) a locksmith who does not install or service
1-54 detection devices, does not conduct investigations, and is not a
1-55 security service contractor;
1-56 (9) a person who owns and installs burglar detection
1-57 or alarm devices on his own property or, if he does not charge for
1-58 the device or its installation, installs it for the protection of
1-59 his personal property located on another's property, and does not
1-60 install the devices as a normal business practice on the property
1-61 of another;
1-62 (10) an employee of a cattle association who is
1-63 engaged in inspection of brands of livestock under the authority
1-64 granted to that cattle association by the Packers and Stockyards
2-1 Division of the United States Department of Agriculture;
2-2 (11) the provisions of this Act shall not apply to
2-3 common carriers by rail engaged in interstate commerce and
2-4 regulated by state and federal authorities and transporting
2-5 commodities essential to the national defense and to the general
2-6 welfare and safety of the community;
2-7 (12) a registered professional engineer practicing in
2-8 accordance with the provisions of the Texas Engineering Practice
2-9 Act that does not install or service detection devices, does not
2-10 conduct nonengineering investigations, is performing forensic
2-11 engineering studies, and is not a security services contractor;
2-12 (13) a person whose sale of burglar alarm signal
2-13 devices, burglary alarms, television cameras, still cameras, or
2-14 other electrical, mechanical, or electronic devices used for
2-15 preventing or detecting burglary, theft, shoplifting, pilferage, or
2-16 other losses is exclusively over-the-counter or by mail order;
2-17 (14) a person who holds a license or other form of
2-18 permission issued by an incorporated city or town to practice as an
2-19 electrician and who installs fire or smoke detectors in no building
2-20 other than a single family or multifamily residence;
2-21 (15) a person or organization in the business of
2-22 building construction that installs electrical wiring and devices
2-23 that may include in part the installation of a burglar alarm or
2-24 detection device if:
2-25 (A) the person or organization is a party to a
2-26 contract that provides that the installation will be performed
2-27 under the direct supervision of and inspected and certified by a
2-28 person or organization licensed to install and certify such an
2-29 alarm or detection device and that the licensee assumes full
2-30 responsibility for the installation of the alarm or detection
2-31 device; and
2-32 (B) the person or organization does not service
2-33 or maintain burglar alarms or detection devices;
2-34 (16) a reserve peace officer while the reserve officer
2-35 is performing guard, patrolman, or watchman duties for a county and
2-36 is being compensated solely by that county;
2-37 (17) response to a burglar alarm or detection device
2-38 by a law enforcement agency or by a law enforcement officer acting
2-39 in an official capacity;
2-40 (18) a person who, by education, experience, or
2-41 background has specialized expertise or knowledge such as that
2-42 which would qualify or tend to qualify such person as an expert
2-43 witness, authorized to render opinions in proceedings conducted in
2-44 a court, administrative agency, or governing body of this state or
2-45 of the United States, in accordance with applicable rules and
2-46 regulations and who does not perform any other service for which a
2-47 license is required by provisions of this Act;
2-48 (19) an officer, employee, or agent of a common
2-49 carrier, as defined by Section 153(h), Communications Act of 1934
2-50 (47 U.S.C.A. Sec. 151 et seq.), while protecting the carrier or a
2-51 user of the carrier's long-distance services from a fraudulent,
2-52 unlawful, or abusive use of those long-distance services;
2-53 (20) a person who sells or installs automobile burglar
2-54 alarm devices and that does not perform any other act that requires
2-55 a license under this Act;
2-56 (21) a manufacturer, or a manufacturer's authorized
2-57 distributor, who sells to the holder of a license under this Act
2-58 equipment used in the operations for which the holder is required
2-59 to be licensed;
2-60 (22) a person employed as a noncommissioned security
2-61 officer by a political subdivision of this state;
2-62 (23) a person whose activities are regulated under
2-63 Article 5.43-2, Insurance Code, except to the extent that those
2-64 activities are specifically regulated under this Act;
2-65 (24) a landman performing activities in the course and
2-66 scope of the landman's business;
2-67 (25) a hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or
2-68 affiliate of a hospital that provides medical alert services for
2-69 persons who are sick or disabled, if the hospital, subsidiary, or
3-1 affiliate is licensed under Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code,
3-2 and the hospital does not perform any other service that requires a
3-3 license under this Act;
3-4 (26) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
3-5 provides medical alert services for persons who are sick or
3-6 disabled, if the organization:
3-7 (A) is exempt from taxation under Section
3-8 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
3-9 (B) has its monitoring services provided by a
3-10 licensed person or hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or
3-11 affiliate of a hospital licensed under Chapter 241, Health and
3-12 Safety Code; and
3-13 (C) does not perform any other service that
3-14 requires a license under this Act;
3-15 (27) a person engaged in the business of electronic
3-16 monitoring of a person as a condition of that person's probation,
3-17 parole, mandatory supervision, or release on bail, if the person
3-18 does not perform any other service that requires a license under
3-19 this Act;
3-20 (28) a nonprofit business or civic organization that:
3-21 (A) employs one or more peace officers meeting
3-22 the qualifications of Subdivision (3) of this subsection as
3-23 patrolmen, guards, or watchmen;
3-24 (B) provides the services of these peace
3-25 officers only to:
3-26 (i) its members; or
3-27 (ii) if the organization does not have
3-28 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
3-29 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
3-30 organizational documents;
3-31 (C) devotes the net receipts from all charges
3-32 for the services exclusively to the cost of providing the services
3-33 or to the costs of other services for the enhancement of the
3-34 security or safety of:
3-35 (i) its members; or
3-36 (ii) if the organization does not have
3-37 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
3-38 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
3-39 organizational documents; and
3-40 (D) does not perform any other service that
3-41 requires a license under this Act;
3-42 (29) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
3-43 maintains a system of records to aid in the location of missing
3-44 children if the organization:
3-45 (A) is exempt from federal taxation under
3-46 Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and its
3-47 subsequent amendments;
3-48 (B) exclusively provides services related to
3-49 locating missing children; and
3-50 (C) does not perform any other service that
3-51 requires a license under this Act; [or]
3-52 (30) a person engaged in the business of psychological
3-53 testing or other testing and interviewing services (to include but
3-54 not limited to attitudes, honesty, intelligence, personality, and
3-55 skills) for preemployment purposes, if the person does not perform
3-56 any other service that requires a license under this Act; or
3-57 (31) a person who obtains documents for use in
3-58 litigation by an authorization or subpoena issued for a written or
3-59 oral deposition.
3-60 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-61 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-62 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-63 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-64 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-65 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-66 * * * * *