79(R) HB 1588 - Senate Committee Report version

This website will be unavailable from Thursday, May 30, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, June 3, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.


                                                                                


By:  Driver (Senate Sponsor - Williams)                           H.B. No. 1588
	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 28, 2005; 
April 29, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on 
Criminal Justice; May 16, 2005, reported adversely, with favorable 
Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; 
May 16, 2005, sent to printer.)


COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1588                                   By:  Ellis


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT


relating to the qualifications and removal of and continuing 
education requirements for a constable.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 86.0021(a), Local Government Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(a)  A person is not eligible to serve as constable unless:             
		(1)  the person is eligible to be licensed under 
Sections 1701.309 and 1701.312, Occupations Code, and:
			(A) [(1)]  has at least an associate's degree 
conferred by an institution of higher education accredited by an 
accrediting organization recognized by the Texas Higher Education 
Coordinating Board [a high school diploma or a high school 
equivalency certificate]; [and]
			(B)  is a special investigator under Article 
2.122(a), Code of Criminal Procedure; or
			(C)  is an honorably retired peace officer or 
honorably retired federal criminal investigator who holds a 
certificate of proficiency issued under Section 1701.357, 
Occupations Code; or
		(2)  the person is an active or inactive licensed peace 
officer under Chapter 1701 [eligible to be licensed under Sections 
1701.309 and 1701.312], Occupations Code.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter H, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is 
amended by adding Section 1701.3545 to read as follows:
	Sec. 1701.3545.  INITIAL TRAINING AND CONTINUING EDUCATION 
FOR CONSTABLES.  (a)  A public institution of higher education 
selected by the commission shall establish and offer a program of 
initial training and a program of continuing education for 
constables.  The curriculum for each program must relate to law 
enforcement management and civil process issues.  The institution 
selected under this subsection shall develop the curriculum for the 
programs.  The curriculum must be approved by the commission.
	(b)  Each constable must complete at least 40 hours of 
continuing education provided by the selected institution under 
this section each 48-month period.
	(c)  An individual appointed or elected to that individual's 
first position as constable must complete at least 40 hours of 
initial training for new constables in accordance with Subsections 
(d) and (e).
	(d)  A newly appointed or elected constable shall complete 
the initial training program for new constables not later than the 
second anniversary of that individual's appointment or election as 
constable.  The initial training program for new constables is in 
addition to the initial training required by this chapter.  The 
first 48-month period under Subsection (b) begins, for an 
individual who completes the initial training program for new 
constables under this section, on the first anniversary of the date 
the individual completed the initial training program.
	(e)  The institution selected under Subsection (a) by rule 
may provide for the waiver of:
		(1)  all or part of the required 40 hours of initial 
training for new constables to the extent the new constable has 
satisfactorily completed equivalent training during the 24 months 
preceding the individual's appointment or election; or
		(2)  the continuing education requirements of 
Subsection (b) for an individual who has satisfactorily completed 
equivalent continuing education during the preceding 24 months.
	(f)  An individual who is subject to the continuing education 
requirements of Subsection (b) is exempt from other continuing 
education requirements under this subchapter.
	(g)  The commission shall establish procedures to annually 
determine the status of the peace officer license of each elected 
constable and to ensure that constables comply with this section.  
The commission shall forward to the attorney general's office 
documentation for each constable who does not comply with this 
section.  A constable who does not comply with this section forfeits 
the office and the attorney general shall institute a quo warranto 
proceeding under Chapter 66, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, to 
remove the constable from office.
	(h)  To the extent of a conflict between this section and any 
other law, this section controls.
	SECTION 3.  Section 1701.354, Occupations Code, is amended 
to read as follows:
	Sec. 1701.354.  CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR [CONSTABLES AND] 
DEPUTY CONSTABLES.  (a)  If the commission requires a state, county, 
special district, or municipal agency that employs a [constable or] 
deputy constable to provide the [constable or] deputy constable 
with a training program under Section 1701.352, the commission 
shall require the [constable or] deputy constable to attend at 
least 20 hours of instruction in civil process.
	(b)  The commission shall adopt rules and procedures 
concerning a civil process course, including rules providing for:
		(1)  approval of course content and standards; and                            
		(2)  issuance of course credit.                                               
	(c)  [For the purposes of removal of a constable under 
Subchapter B, Chapter 87, Local Government Code, a constable is 
considered to be incompetent if the constable fails to complete the 
hours of instruction required by this section.
	[(d)]  The commission may waive the requirement that a 
[constable or] deputy constable complete the instruction required 
by this section if:
		(1)  the [constable or] deputy constable requests a 
waiver because of hardship; and
		(2)  the commission determines that a hardship exists.                        
	SECTION 4.  (a) Not later than January 1, 2006, the public 
institution of higher education selected by the Commission on Law 
Enforcement Officer Standards and Education under Section 
1701.3545, Occupations Code, as added by this Act, shall establish 
the initial training and education programs required by that 
section.
	(b)  Section 1701.3545(c), Occupations Code, as added by 
this Act, requiring newly appointed or elected constables to 
complete at least 40 hours of initial training, applies only to an 
individual newly appointed or elected as constable who takes office 
on or after January 1, 2006.
	SECTION 5.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section 
86.0021, Local Government Code, do not apply to a constable serving 
a term that began before the effective date of this Act.  A 
constable serving a term that began before the effective date of 
this Act is governed for the remainder of that term by the 
applicable law that existed immediately before the effective date 
of this Act, and the prior law is continued in effect for that 
purpose.
	SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.



* * * * *