By Longoria H.B. No. 191
76R946 AJA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to commissions for certain retired peace officers and the
1-3 authority of those officers to carry certain weapons.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 415, Government Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 415.067 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 415.067. SPECIAL RETIRED PEACE OFFICERS. (a) The
1-8 commission may appoint as a special retired peace officer a retired
1-9 officer of the Department of Public Safety or a local law
1-10 enforcement agency who:
1-11 (1) is honorably retired after not less than 15 years
1-12 of service as a commissioned officer; and
1-13 (2) satisfies the weapons proficiency requirement of
1-14 Section 415.0351.
1-15 (b) A special retired peace officer is subject to the orders
1-16 of the commission, the governor, and the agency from which the
1-17 officer retired for special duty to the same extent as other law
1-18 enforcement officers, except that a special retired peace officer
1-19 may not arrest a person for a violation of Subtitle C, Title 7,
1-20 Transportation Code.
1-21 (c) Before issuance of a commission to a special retired
1-22 peace officer, the officer shall enter into a good and sufficient
1-23 bond that is executed by a surety company authorized to do business
1-24 in the state in the amount of $2,500, that is approved by the
2-1 commission, and that indemnifies all persons against damages
2-2 resulting from an unlawful act of the officer.
2-3 (d) A special retired peace officer is not entitled to
2-4 compensation from the state for service as a special retired peace
2-5 officer.
2-6 (e) A special retired peace officer commission expires
2-7 January 1 of the first odd-numbered year after appointment and is
2-8 renewed automatically on resubmission of a bond as required under
2-9 Subsection (c). The commission may revoke a special retired peace
2-10 officer commission at any time for cause.
2-11 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 415, Government Code, is
2-12 amended by adding Section 415.0351 to read as follows:
2-13 Sec. 415.0351. WEAPONS PROFICIENCY FOR CERTAIN RETIRED PEACE
2-14 OFFICERS. (a) The Department of Public Safety or a local law
2-15 enforcement agency shall allow an honorably retired commissioned
2-16 officer of the department or agency an opportunity to demonstrate
2-17 annually weapons proficiency as defined by the commission under
2-18 Section 415.035 if the chief law enforcement officer of the agency
2-19 from which the officer retired provides the officer with a written
2-20 statement indicating that:
2-21 (1) the officer's license as a commissioned officer
2-22 was not revoked or suspended for any period during the officer's
2-23 term of service as a commissioned officer; and
2-24 (2) the officer has no psychological or physical
2-25 disability that would interfere with the officer's proper handling
2-26 of a handgun.
2-27 (b) The department or agency shall issue a certificate of
3-1 proficiency to a retired officer who satisfactorily demonstrates
3-2 weapons proficiency under Subsection (a). The department or agency
3-3 shall maintain records of any retired officer who holds a
3-4 certificate issued under this section. A certificate issued under
3-5 this section expires on the first anniversary of the date the
3-6 certificate was issued.
3-7 (c) The commission shall adopt rules for the administration
3-8 of this section and set fees that the department or agency may
3-9 collect to recover the expenses the department or agency incurs in
3-10 performing duties under this section.
3-11 SECTION 3. Section 46.15, Penal Code, is amended by adding
3-12 Subsection (e) to read as follows:
3-13 (e) The provision of Section 46.02 prohibiting the carrying
3-14 of a handgun does not apply to a person who was, at the time of the
3-15 commission of the offense, the holder of a certificate issued under
3-16 Section 415.0351, Government Code.
3-17 SECTION 4. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
3-18 amended to read as follows:
3-19 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
3-20 officers:
3-21 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
3-22 (2) constables and deputy constables;
3-23 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
3-24 city, town, or village;
3-25 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
3-26 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
3-27 Safety;
4-1 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
4-2 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
4-3 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
4-4 Beverage Commission;
4-5 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
4-6 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
4-7 (8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081,
4-8 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
4-9 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
4-10 Commission;
4-11 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
4-12 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
4-13 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
4-14 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
4-15 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
4-16 commercial air carriers;
4-17 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
4-18 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
4-19 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
4-20 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
4-21 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
4-22 security officers;
4-23 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
4-24 by the comptroller;
4-25 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
4-26 improvement district under Section 49.216, Water Code;
4-27 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
5-1 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
5-2 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
5-3 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
5-4 Board of Medical Examiners;
5-5 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
5-6 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
5-7 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
5-8 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
5-9 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
5-10 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
5-11 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
5-12 Commission;
5-13 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
5-14 Pharmacy;
5-15 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
5-16 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108,
5-17 Transportation Code, or by a regional transportation authority
5-18 under Section 452.110, Transportation Code;
5-19 (23) investigators commissioned by the attorney
5-20 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
5-21 (24) security officers and investigators commissioned
5-22 as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
5-23 (25) an officer employed by the Texas Department of
5-24 Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety Code;
5-25 (26) officers appointed by an appellate court under
5-26 Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
5-27 (27) officers commissioned by the state fire marshal
6-1 under Chapter 417, Government Code;
6-2 (28) an investigator commissioned by the commissioner
6-3 of insurance under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code; [and]
6-4 (29) apprehension specialists commissioned by the
6-5 Texas Youth Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human
6-6 Resources Code; and
6-7 (30) special retired peace officers commissioned under
6-8 Section 415.067, Government Code.
6-9 SECTION 5. The Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
6-10 Standards and Education shall adopt the rules and establish the
6-11 fees required by Section 415.0351, Government Code, as added by
6-12 this Act, not later than January 1, 2000.
6-13 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
6-14 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.