By Ellis H.B. No. 1112
76R3432 GWK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to law enforcement personnel of the Texas Department of
1-3 Criminal Justice.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 494.008, Government Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 494.008. DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES: LIMITED LAW ENFORCEMENT
1-8 POWERS. (a) The executive director [of the institutional
1-9 division] or the executive director's designee may authorize
1-10 employees of the department [institutional division] to transport
1-11 offenders [inmates] and to apprehend escapees from any division of
1-12 the department. An employee acting under authority granted by the
1-13 executive director has the same powers and duties as a peace
1-14 officer under the laws of this state, except that the employee may
1-15 not act without receiving express orders from the executive
1-16 director or the executive director's designee, and may exercise
1-17 those powers and perform those duties throughout the state but only
1-18 during duty hours.
1-19 (b) The department [institutional division] may allow
1-20 employees who are granted law enforcement authority under this
1-21 section to assist peace officers in any county of the state if the
1-22 assistance is requested for the purpose of apprehending an escapee
1-23 of a municipal or county jail and if the department [division]
1-24 determines that the assistance will not jeopardize the safety and
2-1 security of the department [division] and its personnel. An
2-2 employee who assists a peace officer in the performance of the
2-3 officer's duties has the same powers and duties as the officer
2-4 requesting assistance.
2-5 (c) An employee of the department [institutional division]
2-6 may not enforce the laws of this state relating to the prevention
2-7 of misdemeanors and the detention of persons who commit
2-8 misdemeanors, including laws regulating traffic and the use of
2-9 state highways.
2-10 (d) An employee described by Subsection (a) may not be
2-11 considered a peace officer for any purposes other than those
2-12 specified under this section and is not required to be certified by
2-13 the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.
2-14 SECTION 2. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
2-15 amended to read as follows:
2-16 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
2-17 officers:
2-18 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
2-19 (2) constables and deputy constables;
2-20 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
2-21 city, town, or village;
2-22 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
2-23 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
2-24 Safety;
2-25 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
2-26 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
2-27 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
3-1 Beverage Commission;
3-2 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
3-3 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
3-4 (8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081,
3-5 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
3-6 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
3-7 Commission;
3-8 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
3-9 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
3-10 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
3-11 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
3-12 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
3-13 commercial air carriers;
3-14 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
3-15 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
3-16 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
3-17 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
3-18 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
3-19 security officers;
3-20 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
3-21 by the comptroller;
3-22 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
3-23 improvement district under Section 49.216, Water Code;
3-24 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
3-25 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
3-26 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
3-27 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
4-1 Board of Medical Examiners;
4-2 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
4-3 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
4-4 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
4-5 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
4-6 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
4-7 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
4-8 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
4-9 Commission;
4-10 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
4-11 Pharmacy;
4-12 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
4-13 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108,
4-14 Transportation Code, or by a regional transportation authority
4-15 under Section 452.110, Transportation Code;
4-16 (23) investigators commissioned by the attorney
4-17 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
4-18 (24) security officers and investigators commissioned
4-19 as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
4-20 (25) an officer employed by the Texas Department of
4-21 Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety Code;
4-22 (26) officers appointed by an appellate court under
4-23 Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
4-24 (27) officers commissioned by the state fire marshal
4-25 under Chapter 417, Government Code;
4-26 (28) an investigator commissioned by the commissioner
4-27 of insurance under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code; [and]
5-1 (29) apprehension specialists commissioned by the
5-2 Texas Youth Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human
5-3 Resources Code; and
5-4 (30) officers appointed by the executive director of
5-5 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under Section 493.019,
5-6 Government Code.
5-7 SECTION 3. Section 507.021, Government Code, is repealed.
5-8 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-13 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-14 passage, and it is so enacted.