Amend SB 568 (House Committee Printing) by adding the
following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and
renumbering the subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ___. Section 214.194, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214.194. [FEE FOR] MUNICIPAL PERMIT FEE GENERALLY.
(a) If a municipality adopts an ordinance that requires a person to
pay an annual fee to obtain a permit from the municipality before
the person may use an alarm system in the municipality, the fee
shall be used for the general administration of this subchapter,
including the provision of responses generally required to
implement this subchapter other than specific responses to false
alarms.
(b) A municipal permit fee imposed under this section may
not exceed the rate of $50 a year for a residential location.
SECTION ___. The heading to Section 214.195, Local
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214.195. NONRENEWAL OR REVOCATION OF PERMIT AND
TERMINATION OF MUNICIPAL RESPONSE; [AND] DISCRIMINATION
PROHIBITED.
SECTION ___. Sections 214.195(a) and (d), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided in Subsection (d) [of this section],
a municipality may not terminate its law enforcement response to a
residential permit holder because of excess false alarms if the
false alarm fees are paid in full.
(d) A municipality may revoke or [set standards for systems
to be permitted and may] refuse to renew the permit of an alarm
system that has had eight or more false alarms during the preceding
12-month period [permit particular systems which in its discretion
have a history of unreliability].
SECTION ___. Subchapter F, Chapter 214, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 214.1955 to read as follows:
Sec. 214.1955. MULTIUNIT HOUSING FACILITIES. (a) A
municipality may not refuse to issue an alarm system permit for a
residential location solely because the residential location is an
individual residential unit located in a multiunit housing
facility.
(b) In issuing an alarm system permit for an alarm installed
in an individual residential unit of a multiunit housing facility,
the municipality shall issue the permit to the person occupying the
individual residential unit.
(c) A municipality may impose a penalty under Section
214.197 for the signaling of a false alarm on the premises of a
multiunit housing facility for a facility other than an individual
residential unit only if the permit holder is notified of:
(1) the date of the signaling of the false alarm;
(2) the address of the multiunit housing facility
where the signaling of the false alarm occurred; and
(3) the identification of the individual facility, if
applicable, located on the multiunit housing facility premises
where the signaling of the false alarm occurred.
SECTION ___. Section 214.197, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214.197. PENALTIES FOR FALSE ALARMS [PENALTY
LIMITATIONS]. [(a)] A municipality may [not] impose a penalty [or
fee] for the signaling of a false alarm by a burglar alarm system if
[unless] at least three [five] other false alarms have occurred
during the preceding 12-month period. The amount of the penalty for
the signaling of a false alarm as described by Section 214.196 may
not exceed:
(1) $50, if the location has had more than three but
fewer than six other false alarms in the preceding 12-month period;
(2) $75, if the location has had more than five but
fewer than eight other false alarms in the preceding 12-month
period; or
(3) $100, if the location has had eight or more other
false alarms in the preceding 12-month period.
[(b) A penalty or fee imposed for a false alarm must be
established by ordinance based on the type and level of emergency
response provided. This fee may not exceed $50 in the case of the
category of burglar alarms. The penalty or fee for a false alarm
may not exceed the actual expenses incurred for the response.]
SECTION ___. Subchapter F, Chapter 214, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Sections 214.198-214.200 to read as
follows:
Sec. 214.198. VERIFICATION. A municipality may require an
alarm systems monitor to attempt to contact the occupant of the
alarm system location twice before the municipality responds to the
alarm signal.
Sec. 214.199. EXCEPTION OF MUNICIPALITY FROM ALARM SYSTEM
RESPONSE. (a) The governing body of a municipality may not adopt
an ordinance providing that law enforcement personnel of the
municipality will not respond to any alarm signal indicated by an
alarm system in the municipality unless, before adopting the
ordinance, the governing body of the municipality:
(1) makes reasonable efforts to notify permit holders
of its intention to adopt the ordinance; and
(2) conducts a public hearing at which persons
interested in the response of the municipality to alarm systems are
given the opportunity to be heard.
(b) A municipality that adopts an ordinance under this
section may not impose or collect any fine, fee, or penalty
otherwise authorized by this subchapter.
Sec. 214.200. PRIORITY OR LEVEL OF RESPONSE NOT AFFECTED;
LIABILITY OF MUNICIPALITY FOR NONRESPONSE. (a) Nothing in this
subchapter:
(1) affects the priority or level of response provided
by a municipality to a permitted location; or
(2) waives the governmental immunity provided by law
for a municipality.
(b) A municipality that does not respond to an alarm signal
is not liable for damages that may occur relating to the cause of
the alarm signal.
SECTION ___. Subchapter L, Chapter 1702, Occupations Code,
is amended by adding Sections 1702.286, 1702.287, and 1702.288 to
read as follows:
Sec. 1702.286. DUTIES OF ALARM SYSTEMS COMPANY. (a) On the
installation or activation of an alarm system, an alarm systems
company shall distribute to the occupant of the alarm system
location information summarizing:
(1) the applicable law relating to false alarms,
including the potential for penalties and revocation or suspension
of a permit;
(2) how to prevent false alarms; and
(3) how to operate the alarm system.
(b) An alarm systems company shall notify the municipality
in which the alarm system is located of an installation or
activation of an alarm system not later than the 30th day after the
date of the installation or activation. The alarm systems company
shall provide to the municipality:
(1) the alarm systems company name;
(2) the alarm systems company license number;
(3) the name of the occupant of the alarm system
location;
(4) the address of the alarm system location; and
(5) the date of installation or activation.
(c) Information provided to a governmental body under this
section is confidential and subject to disclosure only as provided
under Section 1702.284.
(d) An alarm systems company commits an offense if the
company violates Subsection (a) or (b). An offense under this
subsection is a Class C misdemeanor.
(e) The duties imposed by this section on an alarm systems
company do not apply to the installation or activation of a personal
emergency response system, as defined under Section 1702.331.
Sec. 1702.287. DETECTION DEVICE CONTROL PANELS; MINIMUM
STANDARDS. An alarm systems company may not install any alarm
system on or after January 1, 2007, that includes a detection device
control panel unless the control panel meets or exceeds the
standards of the American National Standards Institute for false
alarm reduction.
Sec. 1702.288. NOTICE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION TO RECIPIENT
OF ALARM SYSTEM SERVICES. (a) The board shall adopt rules in
accordance with this section that require a license holder acting
as an alarm systems company under this chapter to inform each of the
license holder's clients that the client is entitled to receive a
written contract for alarm system services that contains the
client's fee arrangement and other relevant information about
services to be rendered.
(b) The rules shall require that a written contract for
alarm system services shall be furnished to a client in accordance
with Subsection (a) not later than the seventh day after the date
the client requests the written contract.
(c) The rules shall require that the written contract for
services shall be dated and signed by the owner or manager of an
alarm systems company or a person expressly authorized by the owner
or manager to sign written contracts on behalf of the company.
(d) The rules shall require that, not later than the seventh
day after the date of entering into a contract for services
regulated by the board with another alarm systems company or alarm
systems monitor, an alarm systems company shall:
(1) notify the recipient of those services of the
name, address, and telephone number, and individual to contact at
the company that purchased the contract;
(2) notify the recipient of services at the time the
contract is negotiated that another licensed company may provide
any of the services requested by subcontracting or outsourcing
those services; and
(3) if any of the services are subcontracted or
outsourced to a licensed third party, notify the recipient of
services, by mail, of the name, address, phone number, and license
number of the company providing those services.
(e) The rules shall require that notice provided to a
recipient of services under Subsection (d) shall:
(1) be mailed to the recipient in a written form that
emphasizes the required information; and
(2) include stickers or other materials to be affixed
to an alarm system indicating the alarm systems company's or alarm
systems monitor's new telephone number.
SECTION ___. Section 1702.286, Occupations Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to an alarm system installed or activated
on or after January 1, 2006.