HBA-SEP H.B. 207 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 207
By: Longoria
Public Safety
4/6/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law provides that certain licensed peace officers are subject to
the Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act (Act). Only
those peace officers who are employed full-time as peace officers are
exempt from the Act Retired peace officers, volunteer peace officers, and
detention guards must maintain the same credentials as full-time peace
officers, yet they are prohibited by the Act from accepting employment as
security guards to supplement their income. House Bill 207 removes all
licensed peace officers from the purview of the Act. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 207 amends the Occupations Code to provide that a person who is
a peace officer and who receives compensation for private employment, on an
individual or an independent contract basis as a patrolman, guard, extra
job coordinator, or watchman, is not required to be employed full-time as a
peace officer to be exempt from regulation under the Private Investigators
and Private Security Agencies Act if the peace officer is employed in an
employee-employer relationship or employed on an individual contractual
basis and is not in the employ of another peace officer.  The bill deletes
conditional provisions specifying that a person who has full-time
employment as a peace officer and who receives compensation for private
employment is exempt from the Private Investigators and Private Security
Agencies Act if the officer:  
 _is a not a reserve peace officer; and

_works as a peace officer on the average of at least 32 hours a week, is
compensated by the state or a political subdivision of the state at least
at the minimum wage, and is entitled to all employee benefits offered to a
peace officer by the state or political subdivision.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.