By Keel H.B. No. 3590
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to an exception for peace officers from private security
1-3 consultant registration requirements.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 3, Private Investigators
1-6 and Private Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's
1-7 Texas Civil 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 has full-time employment as a peace
1-21 officer, who receives compensation for private employment on an
2-1 individual or an independent contractor basis as a patrolman,
2-2 guard, [or] watchman, or private security consultant if the
2-3 officer:
2-4 (A) is employed in an employee-employer
2-5 relationship or employed on an individual contractual basis;
2-6 (B) is not in the employ of another peace
2-7 officer;
2-8 (C) is not a reserve peace officer; and
2-9 (D) works as a peace officer on the average of
2-10 at least 32 hours a week, is compensated by the state or a
2-11 political subdivision of the state at the rate of the minimum wage
2-12 or higher, and is entitled to all employee benefits offered to a
2-13 peace officer by the state or political subdivision;
2-14 (4) a person engaged exclusively in the business of
2-15 obtaining and furnishing information for purposes of credit
2-16 worthiness or collecting debts or ascertaining the financial
2-17 responsibility of applicants for property insurance and for
2-18 indemnity or surety bonds, with respect to persons, firms, and
2-19 corporations;
2-20 (5) an attorney-at-law in performing his duties;
2-21 (6) admitted insurers, insurance adjusters, agents,
2-22 and insurance brokers licensed by the State, performing duties in
2-23 connection with insurance transacted by them;
2-24 (7) a person who engages exclusively in the business
2-25 of repossessing property that is secured by a mortgage or other
3-1 security interest;
3-2 (8) a locksmith who does not install or service
3-3 detection devices, does not conduct investigations, and is not a
3-4 security service contractor;
3-5 (9) a person who owns and installs burglar detection
3-6 or alarm devices on his own property or, if he does not charge for
3-7 the device or its installation, installs it for the protection of
3-8 his personal property located on another's property, and does not
3-9 install the devices as a normal business practice on the property
3-10 of another;
3-11 (10) an employee of a cattle association who is
3-12 engaged in inspection of brands of livestock under the authority
3-13 granted to that cattle association by the Packers and Stockyards
3-14 Division of the United States Department of Agriculture;
3-15 (11) a common carrier by rail engaged in interstate
3-16 commerce and regulated by state and federal authorities and
3-17 transporting commodities essential to the national defense and to
3-18 the general welfare and safety of the community;
3-19 (12) a registered professional engineer practicing in
3-20 accordance with the provisions of the Texas Engineering Practice
3-21 Act that does not install or service detection devices, does not
3-22 conduct nonengineering investigations, is performing forensic
3-23 engineering studies, and is not a security services contractor;
3-24 (13) a person whose sale of burglar alarm signal
3-25 devices, burglary alarms, television cameras, still cameras, or
4-1 other electrical, mechanical, or electronic devices used for
4-2 preventing or detecting burglary, theft, shoplifting, pilferage, or
4-3 other losses is exclusively over-the-counter or by mail order;
4-4 (14) a person who holds a license or other form of
4-5 permission issued by an incorporated city or town to practice as an
4-6 electrician and who installs fire or smoke detectors in no building
4-7 other than a single family or multifamily residence;
4-8 (15) a person or organization in the business of
4-9 building construction that installs electrical wiring and devices
4-10 that may include in part the installation of a burglar alarm or
4-11 detection device if:
4-12 (A) the person or organization is a party to a
4-13 contract that provides that the installation will be performed
4-14 under the direct supervision of and inspected and certified by a
4-15 person or organization licensed to install and certify such an
4-16 alarm or detection device and that the licensee assumes full
4-17 responsibility for the installation of the alarm or detection
4-18 device; and
4-19 (B) the person or organization does not service
4-20 or maintain burglar alarms or detection devices;
4-21 (16) a reserve peace officer while the reserve officer
4-22 is performing guard, patrolman, or watchman duties for a county and
4-23 is being compensated solely by that county;
4-24 (17) response to a burglar alarm or detection device
4-25 by a law enforcement agency or by a law enforcement officer acting
5-1 in an official capacity;
5-2 (18) a person who, by education, experience, or
5-3 background has specialized expertise or knowledge such as that
5-4 which would qualify or tend to qualify such person as an expert
5-5 witness, authorized to render opinions in proceedings conducted in
5-6 a court, administrative agency, or governing body of this state or
5-7 of the United States, in accordance with applicable rules and
5-8 regulations and who does not perform any other service for which a
5-9 license is required by provisions of this Act;
5-10 (19) an officer, employee, or agent of a common
5-11 carrier, as defined by Section 153(10), Communications Act of 1934
5-12 (47 U.S.C.A. Sec. 151 et seq.), while protecting the carrier or a
5-13 user of the carrier's long-distance services from a fraudulent,
5-14 unlawful, or abusive use of those long-distance services;
5-15 (20) a person who sells or installs automobile burglar
5-16 alarm devices and that does not perform any other act that requires
5-17 a license under this Act;
5-18 (21) a manufacturer, or a manufacturer's authorized
5-19 distributor, who sells to the holder of a license under this Act
5-20 equipment used in the operations for which the holder is required
5-21 to be licensed;
5-22 (22) a person employed as a noncommissioned security
5-23 officer by a political subdivision of this state;
5-24 (23) a person whose activities are regulated under
5-25 Article 5.43-2, Insurance Code, except to the extent that those
6-1 activities are specifically regulated under this Act;
6-2 (24) a landman performing activities in the course and
6-3 scope of the landman's business;
6-4 (25) a hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or
6-5 affiliate of a hospital that provides medical alert services for
6-6 persons who are sick or disabled, if the hospital, subsidiary, or
6-7 affiliate is licensed under Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code,
6-8 and the hospital does not perform any other service that requires a
6-9 license under this Act;
6-10 (26) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
6-11 provides medical alert services for persons who are sick or
6-12 disabled, if the organization:
6-13 (A) is exempt from taxation under Section
6-14 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
6-15 (B) has its monitoring services provided by a
6-16 licensed person, licensed nurse, licensed physician assistant, or
6-17 hospital or a wholly owned subsidiary or affiliate of a hospital
6-18 licensed under Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code; and
6-19 (C) does not perform any other service that
6-20 requires a license under this Act;
6-21 (27) a person engaged in the business of electronic
6-22 monitoring of a person as a condition of that person's probation,
6-23 parole, mandatory supervision, or release on bail, if the person
6-24 does not perform any other service that requires a license under
6-25 this Act;
7-1 (28) a nonprofit business or civic organization that:
7-2 (A) employs one or more peace officers meeting
7-3 the qualifications of Subdivision (3) of this subsection as
7-4 patrolmen, guards, or watchmen;
7-5 (B) provides the services of these peace
7-6 officers only to:
7-7 (i) its members; or
7-8 (ii) if the organization does not have
7-9 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
7-10 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
7-11 organizational documents;
7-12 (C) devotes the net receipts from all charges
7-13 for the services exclusively to the cost of providing the services
7-14 or to the costs of other services for the enhancement of the
7-15 security or safety of:
7-16 (i) its members; or
7-17 (ii) if the organization does not have
7-18 members, the members of the communities served by the organization
7-19 as described in its articles of incorporation or other
7-20 organizational documents; and
7-21 (D) does not perform any other service that
7-22 requires a license under this Act;
7-23 (29) a charitable, nonprofit organization that
7-24 maintains a system of records to aid in the location of missing
7-25 children if the organization:
8-1 (A) is exempt from federal taxation under
8-2 Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and its
8-3 subsequent amendments;
8-4 (B) exclusively provides services related to
8-5 locating missing children; and
8-6 (C) does not perform any other service that
8-7 requires a license under this Act;
8-8 (30) a person engaged in the business of psychological
8-9 testing or other testing and interviewing services (to include but
8-10 not limited to attitudes, honesty, intelligence, personality, and
8-11 skills) for preemployment purposes, if the person does not perform
8-12 any other service that requires a license under this Act;
8-13 (31) a person who does not perform any other act that
8-14 requires a license under this Act, and who is engaged in obtaining
8-15 information classified as a public record under Chapter 552,
8-16 Government Code, regardless of whether for compensation, unless the
8-17 person is a full-time employee, as defined by Section 61.001, Labor
8-18 Code, of a person licensed under this Act; or
8-19 (32) a person who obtains a document for use in
8-20 litigation under an authorization or subpoena issued for a written
8-21 or oral deposition.
8-22 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
8-23 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
8-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
9-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
9-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.