1-1 By: Carter (Senate Sponsor - Brown) H.B. No. 2023
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 1999;
1-3 May 12, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
1-4 Justice; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the authority of the Commission on Law Enforcement
1-9 Officer Standards and Education to employ and commission peace
1-10 officers.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 415, Government Code, is
1-13 amended by adding Section 415.016 to read as follows:
1-14 Sec. 415.016. AUTHORITY TO COMMISSION INVESTIGATORS AS PEACE
1-15 OFFICERS. The commission may commission certified peace officers
1-16 as investigators employed by the commission for the limited purpose
1-17 of assisting the commission in administering this chapter.
1-18 SECTION 2. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-19 amended to read as follows:
1-20 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
1-21 officers:
1-22 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
1-23 (2) constables and deputy constables;
1-24 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
1-25 city, town, or village;
1-26 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
1-27 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
1-28 Safety;
1-29 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
1-30 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
1-31 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
1-32 Beverage Commission;
1-33 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
1-34 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
1-35 (8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081,
1-36 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
1-37 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
1-38 Commission;
1-39 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
1-40 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
1-41 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
1-42 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
1-43 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
1-44 commercial air carriers;
1-45 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
1-46 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
1-47 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
1-48 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
1-49 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
1-50 security officers;
1-51 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
1-52 by the comptroller;
1-53 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
1-54 improvement district under Section 49.216, Water Code;
1-55 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
1-56 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
1-57 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
1-58 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
1-59 Board of Medical Examiners;
1-60 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
1-61 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
1-62 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
1-63 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
1-64 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
2-1 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
2-2 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
2-3 Commission;
2-4 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
2-5 Pharmacy;
2-6 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
2-7 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108,
2-8 Transportation Code, or by a regional transportation authority
2-9 under Section 452.110, Transportation Code;
2-10 (23) investigators commissioned by the attorney
2-11 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
2-12 (24) security officers and investigators commissioned
2-13 as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
2-14 (25) an officer employed by the Texas Department of
2-15 Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety Code;
2-16 (26) officers appointed by an appellate court under
2-17 Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
2-18 (27) officers commissioned by the state fire marshal
2-19 under Chapter 417, Government Code;
2-20 (28) an investigator commissioned by the commissioner
2-21 of insurance under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code; [and]
2-22 (29) apprehension specialists commissioned by the
2-23 Texas Youth Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human
2-24 Resources Code; and
2-25 (30) investigators commissioned by the Commission on
2-26 Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education under Section
2-27 415.016, Government Code.
2-28 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-29 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-30 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-31 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-32 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-33 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-34 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-35 * * * * *