76R12731 GJH-D
By Longoria H.B. No. 394
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 394:
By Turner of Coleman C.S.H.B. No. 394
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the exemption of certain peace officers from provisions
1-3 of the Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 3(a), Private Investigators and Private
1-6 Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
1-7 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) This Act does not apply to:
1-9 (1) a person employed exclusively and regularly by one
1-10 employer in connection with the affairs of an employer only and
1-11 where there exists an employer-employee relationship; provided,
1-12 however, any person who shall carry a firearm in the course of his
1-13 employment shall be required to obtain a private security officer
1-14 commission under the provisions of this Act;
1-15 (2) except as provided by Subsection (d) of this
1-16 Section, an officer or employee of the United States of America, or
1-17 of this State or political subdivision of either, while the
1-18 employee or officer is engaged in the performance of official
1-19 duties;
1-20 (3) a person who is [has full-time employment as] a
1-21 peace officer and [,] who receives compensation for private
1-22 employment on an individual or an independent contractor basis as a
1-23 patrolman, guard, or watchman if the officer:
1-24 (A) is employed in an employee-employer
2-1 relationship or employed on an individual contractual basis;
2-2 (B) is not in the employ of another peace
2-3 officer;
2-4 (C) is [not] a reserve peace officer or a
2-5 volunteer peace officer who:
2-6 (i) is appointed, employed full-time, or
2-7 commissioned as a peace officer by a governmental entity that
2-8 maintains monthly records of the number of hours that the peace
2-9 officer volunteers and performs paid security work;
2-10 (ii) remains at all times under the
2-11 supervision and authority of the governmental entity that appoints,
2-12 employs full-time, or commissions the peace officer;
2-13 (iii) volunteers more hours in a month
2-14 than the hours the peace officer performs paid security work in
2-15 that month; and
2-16 (iv) presents to the governmental entity
2-17 proof that the peace officer has purchased a liability bond of at
2-18 least $250,000 that is payable if the peace officer incurs civil or
2-19 criminal liability while performing paid security work; [and]
2-20 (D) is licensed by the Commission on Law
2-21 Enforcement Officer Standards and Education and is not subject to
2-22 any other licensing authority; and
2-23 (E) submits an exemption notice as provided by
2-24 Section 415.0125, Government Code [works as a peace officer on the
2-25 average of at least 32 hours a week, is compensated by the state or
2-26 a political subdivision of the state at the rate of the minimum
2-27 wage or higher, and is entitled to all employee benefits offered to
3-1 a peace officer by the state or political subdivision];
3-2 (4) a person engaged exclusively in the business of
3-3 obtaining and furnishing information for purposes of credit
3-4 worthiness or collecting debts or ascertaining the financial
3-5 responsibility of applicants for property insurance and for
3-6 indemnity or surety bonds, with respect to persons, firms, and
3-7 corporations;
3-8 (5) an attorney-at-law in performing his duties;
3-9 (6) admitted insurers, insurance adjusters, agents,
3-10 and insurance brokers licensed by the State, performing duties in
3-11 connection with insurance transacted by them;
3-12 (7) a person who engages exclusively in the business
3-13 of repossessing property that is secured by a mortgage or other
3-14 security interest;
3-15 (8) a locksmith who does not install or service
3-16 detection devices, does not conduct investigations, and is not a
3-17 security service contractor;
3-18 (9) a person who owns and installs burglar detection
3-19 or alarm devices on his own property or, if he does not charge for
3-20 the device or its installation, installs it for the protection of
3-21 his personal property located on another's property, and does not
3-22 install the devices as a normal business practice on the property
3-23 of another;
3-24 (10) an employee of a cattle association who is
3-25 engaged in inspection of brands of livestock under the authority
3-26 granted to that cattle association by the Packers and Stockyards
3-27 Division of the United States Department of Agriculture;
4-1 (11) a common carrier by rail engaged in interstate
4-2 commerce and regulated by state and federal authorities and
4-3 transporting commodities essential to the national defense and to
4-4 the general welfare and safety of the community;
4-5 (12) a registered professional engineer practicing in
4-6 accordance with the provisions of the Texas Engineering Practice
4-7 Act that does not install or service detection devices, does not
4-8 conduct nonengineering investigations, is performing forensic
4-9 engineering studies, and is not a security services contractor;
4-10 (13) a person whose sale of burglar alarm signal
4-11 devices, burglary alarms, television cameras, still cameras, or
4-12 other electrical, mechanical, or electronic devices used for
4-13 preventing or detecting burglary, theft, shoplifting, pilferage, or
4-14 other losses is exclusively over-the-counter or by mail order;
4-15 (14) a person who holds a license or other form of
4-16 permission issued by an incorporated city or town to practice as an
4-17 electrician and who installs fire or smoke detectors in no building
4-18 other than a single family or multifamily residence;
4-19 (15) a person or organization in the business of
4-20 building construction that installs electrical wiring and devices
4-21 that may include in part the installation of a burglar alarm or
4-22 detection device if:
4-23 (A) the person or organization is a party to a
4-24 contract that provides that the installation will be performed
4-25 under the direct supervision of and inspected and certified by a
4-26 person or organization licensed to install and certify such an
4-27 alarm or detection device and that the licensee assumes full
5-1 responsibility for the installation of the alarm or detection
5-2 device; and
5-3 (B) the person or organization does not service
5-4 or maintain burglar alarms or detection devices;
5-5 (16) a reserve peace officer while the reserve officer
5-6 is performing guard, patrolman, or watchman duties for a county and
5-7 is being compensated solely by that county;
5-8 (17) response to a burglar alarm or detection device
5-9 by a law enforcement agency or by a law enforcement officer acting
5-10 in an official capacity;
5-11 (18) a person who, by education, experience, or
5-12 background has specialized expertise or knowledge such as that
5-13 which would qualify or tend to qualify such person as an expert
5-14 witness, authorized to render opinions in proceedings conducted in
5-15 a court, administrative agency, or governing body of this state or
5-16 of the United States, in accordance with applicable rules and
5-17 regulations and who does not perform any other service for which a
5-18 license is required by provisions of this Act;
5-19 (19) an officer, employee, or agent of a common
5-20 carrier, as defined by Section 153(10), Communications Act of 1934
5-21 (47 U.S.C.A. Sec. 151 et seq.), while protecting the carrier or a
5-22 user of the carrier's long-distance services from a fraudulent,
5-23 unlawful, or abusive use of those long-distance services;
5-24 (20) a person who sells or installs automobile burglar
5-25 alarm devices and that does not perform any other act that requires
5-26 a license under this Act;
5-27 (21) a manufacturer, or a manufacturer's authorized
6-1 distributor, who sells to the holder of a license under this Act
6-2 equipment used in the operations for which the holder is required
6-3 to be licensed;
6-4 (22) a person employed as a noncommissioned security
6-5 officer by a political subdivision of this state;
6-6 (23) a person whose activities are regulated under
6-7 Article 5.43-2, Insurance Code, except to the extent that those
6-8 activities are specifically regulated under this Act;
6-9 (24) a landman performing activities in the course and
6-10 scope of the landman's business;
6-11 (25) a hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or
6-12 affiliate of a hospital that provides medical alert services for
6-13 persons who are sick or disabled, if the hospital, subsidiary, or
6-14 affiliate is licensed under Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code,
6-15 and the hospital does not perform any other service that requires a
6-16 license under this Act;
6-17 (26) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
6-18 provides medical alert services for persons who are sick or
6-19 disabled, if the organization:
6-20 (A) is exempt from taxation under Section
6-21 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
6-22 (B) has its monitoring services provided by a
6-23 licensed person, licensed nurse, licensed physician assistant, or
6-24 hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or affiliate of a hospital
6-25 licensed under Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code; and
6-26 (C) does not perform any other service that
6-27 requires a license under this Act;
7-1 (27) a person engaged in the business of electronic
7-2 monitoring of a person as a condition of that person's probation,
7-3 parole, mandatory supervision, or release on bail, if the person
7-4 does not perform any other service that requires a license under
7-5 this Act;
7-6 (28) a nonprofit business or civic organization that:
7-7 (A) employs one or more peace officers meeting
7-8 the qualifications of Subdivision (3) of this subsection as
7-9 patrolmen, guards, or watchmen;
7-10 (B) provides the services of these peace
7-11 officers only to:
7-12 (i) its members; or
7-13 (ii) if the organization does not have
7-14 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
7-15 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
7-16 organizational documents;
7-17 (C) devotes the net receipts from all charges
7-18 for the services exclusively to the cost of providing the services
7-19 or to the costs of other services for the enhancement of the
7-20 security or safety of:
7-21 (i) its members; or
7-22 (ii) if the organization does not have
7-23 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
7-24 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
7-25 organizational documents; and
7-26 (D) does not perform any other service that
7-27 requires a license under this Act;
8-1 (29) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
8-2 maintains a system of records to aid in the location of missing
8-3 children if the organization:
8-4 (A) is exempt from federal taxation under
8-5 Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and its
8-6 subsequent amendments;
8-7 (B) exclusively provides services related to
8-8 locating missing children; and
8-9 (C) does not perform any other service that
8-10 requires a license under this Act;
8-11 (30) a person engaged in the business of psychological
8-12 testing or other testing and interviewing services (to include but
8-13 not limited to attitudes, honesty, intelligence, personality, and
8-14 skills) for preemployment purposes, if the person does not perform
8-15 any other service that requires a license under this Act;
8-16 (31) a person who does not perform any other act that
8-17 requires a license under this Act, and who is engaged in obtaining
8-18 information classified as a public record under Chapter 552,
8-19 Government Code, regardless of whether for compensation, unless the
8-20 person is a full-time employee, as defined by Section 61.001, Labor
8-21 Code, of a person licensed under this Act; or
8-22 (32) a person who obtains a document for use in
8-23 litigation under an authorization or subpoena issued for a written
8-24 or oral deposition.
8-25 SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 415, Government Code, is
8-26 amended by adding Section 415.0125 to read as follows:
8-27 Sec. 415.0125. PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS AND PRIVATE SECURITY
9-1 AGENCIES ACT EXEMPTION NOTICE. (a) To qualify for an exemption
9-2 under Section 3(a)(3), Private Investigators and Private Security
9-3 Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), a
9-4 person who otherwise qualifies must submit to the commission, on a
9-5 form approved by the commission, an annual Private Investigators
9-6 and Private Security Agencies Act Exemption Notice accompanied by a
9-7 $35 notification fee.
9-8 (b) A notification fee collected under this section shall be
9-9 deposited as follows:
9-10 (1) $25 to the credit of the general revenue fund; and
9-11 (2) $10 to the credit of the law enforcement officer
9-12 standards and education fund account.
9-13 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
9-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
9-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
9-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
9-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
9-18 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
9-19 passage, and it is so enacted.