By: Madla S.B. No. 1022
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to emergency services districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 775.022, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) If a municipality completes all other procedures
necessary to annex [annexes] territory in a district and if the
municipality intends to provide emergency services to the territory
by the use of municipal personnel or by some method other than by
use of the district, the municipality shall send written notice of
that fact to the board. The municipality must send the notice to
the secretary of the board by certified mail, return receipt
requested. The territory remains part of the district and does not
become part of the municipality until the secretary of the board
receives the notice. On[, the board shall, on] receipt of the
notice, the board shall [a written request of the municipality,]
immediately change its records to show that [disannex] the
territory has been disannexed from the district and shall cease to
provide further services to the residents of that territory.
SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 775.031, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) A district may contract with the state or a political
subdivision for law enforcement services or for enforcement of the
district's fire code. A [Except as provided by Subchapter F, a]
district may [not] commission a peace officer or employ a person who
holds a permanent peace officer license issued under Section
1701.307, Occupations Code, as a peace officer.
SECTION 3. Section 775.034, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) The commissioners court shall consider relevant factors
in determining the individuals to appoint as emergency services
commissioners, including whether the individuals have knowledge
that relates to fire prevention or emergency medical services and
that is relevant to the common policies and practices of the board.
SECTION 4. Section 775.036, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1) and
(g) to read as follows:
(b) The board may adopt and enforce a fire code, including
fines for any violations, that does not conflict with a fire code
adopted by any county that also contains within its boundaries any
portion of the land contained in the district and may require
inspections in the district relating to the causes and prevention
of fires and medical emergencies, except as provided by Section
775.031(b). The fire code must be similar to standards adopted by a
nationally recognized standards-making association. The board may
not enforce the district's fire code within the boundaries of a
municipality that has adopted a fire code, except for an area that
has been annexed only for limited purposes in which the
municipality does not enforce a fire code. The board of a district
located wholly within a county with a population of three million or
more may not adopt a fire code or a fine for a violation of the
district's fire code unless the commissioners court of the county
consents to the adoption of the code or fine.
(b-1) If a county that contains within its boundaries any
portion of the land contained in the district adopts a fire code
after the district adopts a code under Subsection (b), the board may
continue to enforce its fire code in the area subject to the county
fire code. To the extent of any conflict between the county's code
and the district's code, the more stringent provision prevails.
(g) The board may commission a peace officer or employ a
person who holds a permanent peace officer license issued under
Section 1701.307, Occupations Code, to inspect for fire hazards any
structure, appurtenance, fixture, or other real property located in
the district. The board may adopt procedures to order the owner or
occupant of the property that fails an inspection to correct the
hazardous situation.
SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 775.0751, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A district may adopt a sales and use tax, change the rate
of its sales and use tax, or abolish its sales and use tax at an
election held as provided by Section 775.0752. The district may
impose the tax at a rate from one-eighth of one percent to [of
one-half percent, one percent, one and one-half percent, or] two
percent in increments of one-eighth of one percent. Revenue from
the tax may be used for any purpose for which ad valorem tax revenue
of the district may be used.
SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 775.076, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The board may issue bonds and notes as prescribed by
this chapter to perform any of its powers. Before the board may
issue bonds or notes authorized by this section, the commissioners
court of each county in which the district is located must approve
the issuance of the bonds or notes by a majority vote.
SECTION 7. Subsection (k), Section 775.084, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(k) A contract for a public works project must be
administered in the manner provided by [accordance with] Subchapter
B or H, Chapter 271, Local Government Code, except as provided by
this section.
SECTION 8. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 775.085, Health
and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The board, on the behalf of the district, may borrow
money and make other financial arrangements to purchase real
property or emergency services equipment or construct emergency
services facilities in the amount and subject to a rate of interest
or other conditions the board considers advisable.
(b) To secure a loan under this section, the board may
pledge:
(1) tax revenues or funds on hand that are not
otherwise pledged to pay a debt of the district; or
(2) the real property acquired or improved or
equipment acquired with the borrowed money.
SECTION 9. Section 776.033, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) The commissioners court shall consider relevant factors
in determining the individuals to appoint as emergency services
commissioners, including whether the individuals have knowledge
that relates to fire prevention or emergency medical services and
that is relevant to the common policies and practices of the board.
SECTION 10. Subsection (c), Section 776.052, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) If a municipality that is not in the district completes
all other procedures necessary to annex [annexes] territory that is
included in a district and if the municipality intends to provide
emergency services to the territory by the use of municipal
personnel or by some method other than by use of the district, the
governing body of the municipality shall send written notice of
that fact to the board. The municipality must send the notice to
[notify] the secretary of the board by certified mail, return
receipt requested. The territory remains part of the district and
does not become part of the municipality until the secretary of the
board receives the notice. On receipt of the notice, the board
shall immediately change its records to show that the territory has
been disannexed from the district and shall cease to provide
further services to the residents of that [in writing that the
annexed territory is excluded from the district's] territory.
SECTION 11. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace
officers:
(1) sheriffs, their deputies, and those reserve
deputies who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under
Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;
(2) constables, deputy constables, and those reserve
deputy constables who hold a permanent peace officer license issued
under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code;
(3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated
city, town, or village, and those reserve municipal police officers
who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter
1701, Occupations Code;
(4) rangers and officers commissioned by the Public
Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public
Safety;
(5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal
district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
(6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic
Beverage Commission;
(7) each member of an arson investigating unit
commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
(8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081,
Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
(9) officers commissioned by the General Services
Commission;
(10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the
Parks and Wildlife Commission;
(11) airport police officers commissioned by a city
with a population of more than 1.18 million that operates an airport
that serves commercial air carriers;
(12) airport security personnel commissioned as peace
officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this
state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that
operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
(13) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and
security officers;
(14) security officers and investigators commissioned
as peace officers by the comptroller;
(15) officers commissioned by a water control and
improvement district under Section 49.216, Water Code;
(16) officers commissioned by a board of trustees
under Chapter 54, Transportation Code;
(17) investigators commissioned by the Texas State
Board of Medical Examiners;
(18) officers commissioned by the board of managers of
the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital
District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section
281.057, Health and Safety Code;
(19) county park rangers commissioned under
Subchapter E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
(20) investigators employed by the Texas Racing
Commission;
(21) officers commissioned under Chapter 554,
Occupations Code;
(22) officers commissioned by the governing body of a
metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108,
Transportation Code, or by a regional transportation authority
under Section 452.110, Transportation Code;
(23) investigators commissioned by the attorney
general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
(24) security officers and investigators commissioned
as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
(25) an officer employed by the Texas Department of
Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety Code;
(26) officers appointed by an appellate court under
Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
(27) officers commissioned by the state fire marshal
under Chapter 417, Government Code;
(28) an investigator commissioned by the commissioner
of insurance under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code;
(29) apprehension specialists commissioned by the
Texas Youth Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human
Resources Code;
(30) officers appointed by the executive director of
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under Section 493.019,
Government Code;
(31) investigators commissioned by the Commission on
Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education under Section
1701.160, Occupations Code;
(32) commission investigators commissioned by the
Texas Commission on Private Security under Section 1702.061(f),
Occupations Code; and
(33) the fire marshal and any officers, inspectors, or
[, and any] investigators commissioned by an emergency services
district [to assist that fire marshal,] under [Subchapter F,]
Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
Amend S.B. No. 1022 by adding the following appropriately
numbered section and by renumbering the remaining sections as
appropriate:
SECTION __. Section 775.013(a), Health and Safety Code, as
amended by Chapters 886 and 1333, Acts of the 77th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2001, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(a) The petition prescribed by Section 775.011 or 775.012
must show:
(1) that the district is to be created and is to
operate under Article III, Section 48-e, Texas Constitution, and
Chapter 775;
(2) the name of the proposed district;
(3) the proposed district's boundaries as designated
by metes and bounds or other sufficient legal description;
(4) the services that the proposed district will
provide;
(5) that the creation of the proposed district
complies with Sections 775.020 and 775.0205; [and]
(6) the mailing address of each petitioner; and
(7) [(6)] the name of each municipality whose consent
must be obtained under Section 775.014.
78R15332 DRH-D Casteel