78R3613 KEG-F
By: West S.B. No. 568
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to security officers for medical corporations in certain
municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.214, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.214. SECURITY OFFICERS FOR MEDICAL CORPORATIONS IN
CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) In any municipality with a population
of 1.18 million or more, the governing board of a private, nonprofit
medical corporation that provides security services for an
institution of higher education or a private postsecondary
educational institution and other entities located within the same
medical complex, or that provides security services for a branch of
that medical complex, may employ and commission security personnel
to enforce the law of this state within the jurisdiction designated
by Subsection (c) [at the medical complex and its branches].
(b) An officer commissioned under this section may make
arrests and has all the powers, privileges, and immunities of a
peace officer while [on the property under the control and
jurisdiction of the medical corporation or while otherwise]
performing the officer's [his] assigned duties within the
jurisdiction designated by Subsection (c). An officer assigned to
duty and commissioned shall take and file the oath required of peace
officers and shall execute and file a good and sufficient bond in
the sum of $1,000, payable to the governor, with two or more good
and sufficient sureties, conditioned that the officer [he] will
fairly, impartially, and faithfully perform the duties required of
the officer [him] by law. The bond may be sued on from time to time
in the name of the person injured until the whole amount is
recovered.
(c) The jurisdiction of an officer commissioned under this
section is limited to:
(1) property owned, leased, managed, or controlled by
the medical corporation; and
(2) a perimeter area that extends not farther than one
mile from property owned, leased, managed, or controlled by the
medical corporation, including public streets or alleys.
(d) An officer commissioned by a medical corporation under
this section is not entitled to compensation or benefits provided
by this state or a political subdivision of this state.
(e) The state or a political subdivision of this state is
not liable for an act or omission of an officer commissioned under
this section during the performance of the officer's assigned
duties.
(f) A medical corporation may not commission a person under
this section unless the person obtains a peace officer license
issued by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
Education. The medical corporation shall pay to the Commission on
Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education on behalf of an
employee any fees that are necessary to obtain a required license.
(g) A person's commission and any authority to act as an
officer under this section are automatically revoked if the
person's employment with a medical corporation is terminated for
any reason.
SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) A person commissioned before the effective date of this
Act by a private nonprofit medical corporation under Section
51.214, Education Code, must obtain a peace officer license issued
by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
Education not later than September 1, 2004. If that person does not
obtain the license by that date, the person's commission and any
authority to act as an officer under Section 51.214, Education
Code, as amended by this Act, are automatically revoked.