By: Armbrister S.B. No. 1278
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to security officers for electric cooperatives.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 161, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 161.0765 to read as follows:
Sec. 161.0765. SECURITY OFFICERS. (a) The board of an
electric cooperative that owns and operates a generating facility
may employ and commission security personnel to enforce the law of
this state within the jurisdiction designated by Subsection (c).
(b) An officer commissioned under this section may make
arrests and has all the powers, privileges, and immunities of a
peace officer while performing the officer's 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 will fairly,
impartially, and faithfully perform the duties required of the
officer 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 electric cooperative, including an electric generation
facility, a substation, and land surrounding a power line; and
(2) a perimeter area that extends not farther than one
mile from property owned, leased, managed, or controlled by the
electric cooperative, including public streets or alleys.
(d) An officer commissioned by an electric cooperative
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) An electric cooperative 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 electric cooperative 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 an electric cooperative is terminated for
any reason.
SECTION 2. 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 investigators
commissioned by an emergency services district to assist that fire
marshal, under Subchapter F, Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code;
and
(34) officers commissioned under Section 161.0765,
Utilities Code.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
Amend S.B. No. 1278 as follows:
(1) On page 1, line 24, strike "including" and replace with
"limited to"
(2) On page 2, line 1, after "facility," and before "a
substation," insert "a switching station, a communications
repeater site, and"
(3) On page 2, line 1, strike "and land surrounding a power
line"
(4) On page 2, line 4, strike "including public streets or
alleys."
(5) On page 2, line 4, after "cooperative," insert "limited
to an electric generation facility, a switching station, a
communications site, and a substation."
Crabb