79R1330 EMT-D
By: Goolsby H.B. No. 246
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a special police force or
neighborhood police department.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 2.1211 to read as follows:
Art. 2.1211. SPECIAL POLICE FORCE OR NEIGHBORHOOD POLICE
DEPARTMENT. (a) The director of the Department of Public Safety
may appoint special or neighborhood peace officers who are employed
by a private entity to aid law enforcement agencies in the
protection of designated areas or neighborhoods, including the
persons and property located in the area or neighborhood.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a special or
neighborhood peace officer may make arrests and exercise all
authority given peace officers under this code when necessary to
prevent or abate the commission of an offense involving:
(1) injury to a resident or other person in the area or
neighborhood; or
(2) damage to property in the area or neighborhood,
including property in the possession of a resident or other person
in the area or neighborhood.
(c) A special or neighborhood peace officer may not issue a
traffic citation for a violation of Chapter 521, Transportation
Code, or Subtitle C, Title 7, Transportation Code.
(d) A special or neighborhood peace officer is not entitled
to state benefits normally provided by the state to a peace officer.
(e) A person may not serve as a special or neighborhood
peace officer unless:
(1) the private entity that intends to employ the
person as a peace officer submits the person's application for
appointment and certification as a special or neighborhood peace
officer to the director of the Department of Public Safety and to
the executive director of the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
Standards and Education;
(2) the director of the department issues the person a
certificate of authority to act as a special or neighborhood peace
officer;
(3) the executive director of the commission
determines that the person meets minimum standards required of
peace officers by the commission relating to competence,
reliability, education, training, morality, and physical and
mental health and issues the person a license as a special or
neighborhood peace officer; and
(4) the person has met all standards for certification
as a peace officer by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
Standards and Education.
(f) For good cause, the director of the department may
revoke a certificate of authority issued under this article and the
executive director of the commission may revoke a license issued
under this article. Termination of employment with the private
entity or the revocation of a special or neighborhood peace officer
license constitutes an automatic revocation of a certificate of
authority to act as a special or neighborhood peace officer.
(g) A private entity is liable for any act or omission by a
person serving as a special or neighborhood peace officer for the
entity that is within the person's scope of employment. Neither the
state nor any political subdivision or agency of the state is liable
for any act or omission by a person appointed as a special or
neighborhood peace officer. The private entity that employs the
peace officer shall pay all expenses incurred by the granting or
revocation of a certificate of authority to act as a special or
neighborhood peace officer.
(h) The director of the department and the executive
director of the commission may adopt rules necessary for the
effective administration and performance of the duties and
responsibilities delegated to them by this article.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.