By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 1380
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to review of criminal history record information of
1-2 certified public school educators, persons admitted to educator
1-3 preparation programs, and persons seeking educator certification
1-4 and to designation of State Board for Educator Certification
1-5 investigators as peace officers.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Section 21.040, Education Code, is amended to
1-8 read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 21.040. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF BOARD. (a) The
1-10 board shall:
1-11 (1) supervise the executive director's performance;
1-12 (2) approve an operating budget for the board and make
1-13 a request for appropriations;
1-14 (3) appoint the members of any advisory committee to
1-15 the board;
1-16 (4) for each class of educator certificate, appoint an
1-17 advisory committee composed of members of that class to recommend
1-18 standards for that class to the board;
1-19 (5) provide to its members and employees, as often as
1-20 necessary, information regarding their qualifications for office or
1-21 employment under this chapter and their responsibilities under
1-22 applicable laws relating to standards of conduct for state officers
1-23 or employees;
1-24 (6) develop and implement policies that clearly define
2-1 the respective responsibilities of the board and the board's staff;
2-2 (7) file annually with the governor and the presiding
2-3 officer of each house of the legislature a complete and detailed
2-4 written report, in the form and within the time provided by the
2-5 General Appropriations Act, accounting for all funds received and
2-6 disbursed by the board during the preceding fiscal year; and
2-7 (8) execute interagency contracts to perform routine
2-8 administrative functions.
2-9 (b) The board may commission investigators employed by the
2-10 board as peace officers for the limited purpose of assisting the
2-11 board in administering this subchapter.
2-12 SECTION 2. Section 22.082, Education Code, is amended to
2-13 read as follows:
2-14 Sec. 22.082. ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS BY STATE
2-15 BOARD FOR EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION. (a) The State Board for
2-16 Educator Certification shall obtain from the Department of Public
2-17 Safety of the State of Texas, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
2-18 and any other law enforcement or criminal justice agency, as
2-19 necessary, all national and state criminal history record
2-20 information that relates to:
2-21 (1) a person admitted into an educator preparation
2-22 program approved under Section 21.045; or
2-23 (2) an applicant for or holder of a certificate issued
2-24 under Subchapter B, Chapter 21.
2-25 (b) To enable the board to obtain the information required
2-26 by this section, each person described by Subsection (a) shall
3-1 provide the board with:
3-2 (1) the person's full legal name and any other names
3-3 used by the person;
3-4 (2) the person's sex, ethnicity, and date of birth;
3-5 and
3-6 (3) a complete set of the person's fingerprints,
3-7 provided under procedures approved by the board.
3-8 (c) The board shall collect a fee from the person whose
3-9 criminal history record information is obtained. The amount of the
3-10 fee may not exceed the cost to the board of obtaining that
3-11 information.
3-12 SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 22.083, Education Code,
3-13 is amended to read as follows:
3-14 (c) The superintendent of a district or the director of an
3-15 open-enrollment charter school, private school, regional education
3-16 service center, or shared services arrangement shall [promptly]
3-17 notify the State Board for Educator Certification in writing not
3-18 later than the seventh day after the date [if] the person obtains
3-19 [or has knowledge of] information [showing] that an applicant for
3-20 or holder of a certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21,
3-21 has a reported criminal history.
3-22 SECTION 4. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
3-23 amended to read as follows:
3-24 Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
3-25 officers:
3-26 (1) sheriffs and their deputies;
4-1 (2) constables and deputy constables;
4-2 (3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
4-3 city, town, or village;
4-4 (4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
4-5 Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
4-6 Safety;
4-7 (5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
4-8 district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
4-9 (6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
4-10 Beverage Commission;
4-11 (7) each member of an arson investigating unit
4-12 commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
4-13 (8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081,
4-14 Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
4-15 (9) officers commissioned by the General Services
4-16 Commission;
4-17 (10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
4-18 Parks and Wildlife Commission;
4-19 (11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
4-20 with a population of more than one million, according to the most
4-21 recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves
4-22 commercial air carriers;
4-23 (12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
4-24 officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
4-25 state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
4-26 operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
5-1 (13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
5-2 security officers;
5-3 (14) security officers commissioned as peace officers
5-4 by the comptroller;
5-5 (15) officers commissioned by a water control and
5-6 improvement district under Section 49.216, Water Code;
5-7 (16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
5-8 under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session,
5-9 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
5-10 (17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
5-11 Board of Medical Examiners;
5-12 (18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
5-13 the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
5-14 District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
5-15 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
5-16 (19) county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter
5-17 E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
5-18 (20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
5-19 Commission;
5-20 (21) officers commissioned by the State Board of
5-21 Pharmacy;
5-22 (22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
5-23 metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108,
5-24 Transportation Code, or by a regional transportation authority
5-25 under Section 452.110, Transportation Code;
5-26 (23) investigators commissioned by the attorney
6-1 general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
6-2 (24) security officers and investigators commissioned
6-3 as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
6-4 (25) an officer employed by the Texas Department of
6-5 Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety Code;
6-6 (26) officers appointed by an appellate court under
6-7 Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
6-8 (27) officers commissioned by the state fire marshal
6-9 under Chapter 417, Government Code;
6-10 (28) an investigator commissioned by the commissioner
6-11 of insurance under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code; [and]
6-12 (29) apprehension specialists commissioned by the
6-13 Texas Youth Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human
6-14 Resources Code; and
6-15 (30) investigators commissioned by the State Board for
6-16 Educator Certification under Section 21.040(b), Education Code.
6-17 SECTION 5. Section 411.090, Government Code, is amended to
6-18 read as follows:
6-19 Sec. 411.090. ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION:
6-20 STATE BOARD FOR EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION. (a) The State Board for
6-21 Educator Certification is entitled to obtain from the department
6-22 any criminal history record information maintained by the
6-23 department about a person who has been admitted into an educator
6-24 preparation program approved under Section 21.045, Education Code,
6-25 or who has applied to the board for or holds a certificate under
6-26 Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code. After providing initial
7-1 criminal history record information to the board about a person
7-2 described by this subsection, the department shall retain the
7-3 person's fingerprints and other identifying data and shall notify
7-4 the board if the department subsequently receives criminal history
7-5 record information about the person.
7-6 (b) Criminal history record information obtained by the
7-7 board under Subsection (a):
7-8 (1) may be used for any purpose related to the
7-9 issuance, denial, suspension, or cancellation of a certificate
7-10 issued by the board;
7-11 (2) may not be released to any person except on court
7-12 order or with the consent of the person who is the subject of the
7-13 information [applicant for a certificate]; and
7-14 (3) shall be destroyed by the board after the
7-15 information is used for the authorized purposes.
7-16 SECTION 6. The State Board for Educator Certification, the
7-17 Texas Education Agency, and the Department of Public Safety of the
7-18 State of Texas shall conduct a joint study of the methods and costs
7-19 associated with requiring superintendents of school districts and
7-20 directors of open-enrollment charter schools, private schools,
7-21 regional education service centers, and shared services
7-22 arrangements to obtain state and national criminal history record
7-23 information for all current and new employees and volunteers. Not
7-24 later than June 1, 2000, those agencies shall submit a joint report
7-25 of the results of the study to the lieutenant governor, the speaker
7-26 of the house of representatives, and the presiding officers of the
8-1 senate standing committees on education and finance and the house
8-2 standing committees on public education and appropriations.
8-3 SECTION 7. Beginning January 1, 2000, the State Board for
8-4 Educator Certification shall obtain, in compliance with Subsection
8-5 (a), Section 22.082, Education Code, as amended by this Act,
8-6 national and state criminal history record information relating to
8-7 each person who, on or after that date:
8-8 (1) submits an application for a certificate issued
8-9 under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code; or
8-10 (2) is admitted into an educator preparation program
8-11 approved under Section 21.045, Education Code.
8-12 SECTION 8. Except as provided by Section 9 of this Act, this
8-13 Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
8-14 SECTION 9. This Act takes effect only if a specific
8-15 appropriation for the implementation of this Act is provided in
8-16 H.B. No. 1 (General Appropriations Act), Acts of the 76th
8-17 Legislature, Regular Session, 1999. If no specific appropriation
8-18 is provided in H.B. No. 1, the General Appropriations Act, this Act
8-19 has no effect.
8-20 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
8-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
8-25 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
8-26 Amend S.B. No. 1380 as follows:
9-1 (1) In SECTION 2 of the bill, in amended Section 22.082(a),
9-2 Education Code (engrossed version, page 2, line 22), strike "or".
9-3 (2) In SECTION 2 of the bill, in amended Section 22.082(a),
9-4 Education Code (engrossed version, page 2, lines 23 and 24), strike
9-5 Subdivision (2) and substitute the following:
9-6 (2) an applicant for [or holder of] a certificate
9-7 issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21; or
9-8 (3) a holder of a certificate issued under Subchapter
9-9 B, Chapter 21, who is the subject of an investigation under Section
9-10 21.041(b)(7).
9-11 and amend S.B. 1380 as follows:
9-12 In Section 2 of the bill, line 8, page 3, strike the word
9-13 shall, and insert may.
9-14 Oliveira