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By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 881
(In the Senate - Filed March 2, 2005; March 10, 2005, read
first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
April 25, 2005, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 25, 2005,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 881 By: Ellis
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the qualifications, powers, and duties of a special
ranger and a special Texas Ranger.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 411.023, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), (e), and (f) and adding Subsections
(b-1), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
(a) The commission may appoint as special rangers honorably
retired commissioned officers of the department and not more than
50 [300 other] persons who are employed by the Texas and
Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
(b) A special ranger is subject to the orders of the
commission and the governor for special duty to the same extent as
other law enforcement officers provided for by this chapter, except
as follows. During a period in which a special ranger has been
specifically called to special duty by the commission or the
governor, [that] a special ranger may only [not] enforce a law
[except one] designed to protect life and property and may not
enforce a law regulating the use of a state highway by a motor
vehicle. During a period in which a special ranger has not been
specifically called to duty by the commission or the governor, a
special ranger may only enforce a law as provided by Subsection
(b-1) and may not use the Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications
System to obtain criminal history information, driver's license
information, or any other information available through that
system. A special ranger is not connected with a ranger company or
uniformed unit of the department and may not wear a department
uniform.
(b-1) During a period in which a special ranger has not been
specifically called to duty by the commission or the governor, the
special ranger may only enforce:
(1) a law designed to protect life, if the special
ranger reasonably believes that an imminent threat to cause death
or serious bodily injury exists;
(2) a law designed to protect property, but only if the
property belongs to the special ranger; or
(3) in the manner provided by Chapter 14, Code of
Criminal Procedure, a law that a person who is not a peace officer
may enforce.
(e) A special ranger commission expires January 1 of the
first odd-numbered year after appointment. The director may revoke
a special ranger commission at any time for cause, including a
violation of this section. A special ranger's commission
terminates if the special ranger is:
(1) commissioned by another law enforcement agency;
(2) elected or appointed as a judge of a court in this
state; or
(3) employed by the department as a commissioned
officer.
(f) The commission shall authorize a badge for persons
appointed as special rangers under this section that is distinct in
appearance from the badge authorized for special Texas Rangers
under Section 411.024 and from any badge issued to a Texas Ranger.
In addition to the badge, the commission shall authorize a special
identification card for persons appointed as special rangers under
this section that includes notice that a special ranger is
authorized by the commission to exercise only those powers and
perform only those duties prescribed by this section. A person
appointed as a special ranger under this section who displays the
special ranger's badge to a member of the public when enforcing a
law as a special ranger under this section must display the special
ranger's special identification card along with the badge.
(g) The department shall include on the department's
website, and in any literature published by the department relating
to department officers, information regarding the qualifications,
powers, and duties prescribed by this section for a special ranger.
The department shall also include on the department's website
procedures by which a member of the public may file with the
department a complaint regarding a special ranger. The procedures
for a public complaint against a department employee prescribed by
Section 411.0195 apply to a complaint against a special ranger.
(h) To carry a firearm as a special ranger, a special ranger
must annually obtain a handgun proficiency certificate under
Section 411.189 or a weapons proficiency certificate under Section
1701.355, Occupations Code, and submit a copy of the certificate to
the commission. The commission shall adopt rules for the
administration of this subsection.
SECTION 2. Section 411.024, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (e), and (f) and adding Subsections
(b-1), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
(b) A special Texas Ranger is subject to the orders of the
commission and the governor for special duty to the same extent as
other law enforcement officers provided for by this chapter, except
as follows. During a period in which a special Texas Ranger has
been specifically called to special duty by the commission or the
governor, [that] a special Texas Ranger may only [not] enforce a law
[except one] designed to protect life and property and may not
enforce a law regulating the use of a state highway by a motor
vehicle. During a period in which a special Texas Ranger has not
been specifically called to duty by the commission or the governor,
a special Texas Ranger may only enforce a law as provided by
Subsection (b-1) and may not use the Texas Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System to obtain criminal history information,
driver's license information, or any other information available
through that system. A special Texas Ranger is not connected with a
ranger company or uniformed unit of the department and may not wear
a department uniform.
(b-1) During a period in which a special Texas Ranger has
not been specifically called to duty by the commission or the
governor, the special Texas Ranger may only enforce:
(1) a law designed to protect life, if the special
Texas Ranger reasonably believes that an imminent threat to cause
death or serious bodily injury exists;
(2) a law designed to protect property, but only if the
property belongs to the special Texas Ranger; or
(3) in the manner provided by Chapter 14, Code of
Criminal Procedure, a law that a person who is not a peace officer
may enforce.
(e) A special Texas Ranger commission expires January 1 of
the first odd-numbered year after appointment. The commission may
revoke the commission of a special Texas Ranger who commits a
violation of this section or of a rule of the department for which
an active officer of the Texas Rangers would be discharged. A
special Texas Ranger's commission terminates if the special Texas
Ranger is:
(1) commissioned by another law enforcement agency;
(2) elected or appointed as a judge of a court in this
state; or
(3) employed by the department as a commissioned
officer.
(f) The commission shall authorize a badge for persons
appointed as special Texas Rangers under this section that is
distinct in appearance from the badge authorized for special
rangers under Section 411.023. In addition to the badge, the
commission shall authorize a special identification card for
persons appointed as special Texas Rangers under this section that
includes notice that a special Texas Ranger is authorized by the
commission to exercise only those powers and perform only those
duties prescribed by this section. A person appointed as a special
Texas Ranger under this section who displays the special Texas
Ranger's badge to a member of the public when enforcing a law as a
special Texas Ranger under this section must display the special
Texas Ranger's special identification card along with the badge.
(g) The department shall include on the department's
website, and in any literature published by the department relating
to department officers, information regarding the qualifications,
powers, and duties prescribed by this section for a special Texas
Ranger. The department shall also include on the department's
website procedures by which a member of the public may file with the
department a complaint regarding a special Texas Ranger. The
procedures for a public complaint against a department employee
prescribed by Section 411.0195 apply to a complaint against a
special Texas Ranger.
(h) To carry a firearm as a special Texas Ranger, a special
Texas Ranger must annually obtain a handgun proficiency certificate
under Section 411.189 or a weapons proficiency certificate under
Section 1701.355, Occupations Code, and submit a copy of the
certificate to the commission. The commission shall adopt rules
for the administration of this subsection.
SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 1701.356, Occupations
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Section 411.023, Government Code,
an [An] honorably retired commissioned officer of the Department of
Public Safety who is a special ranger under Section 411.023,
Government Code, or a retired state employee and who holds a
permanent license issued before January 1981 and that was current
on January 1, 1995:
(1) has the same rights and privileges as any other
peace officer of this state;
(2) holds, notwithstanding Section 1701.316, an
active license unless the license is revoked, suspended, or
probated by the commission for a violation of this chapter; and
(3) is not subject to Section 1701.351.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act with regard
to eligibility for appointment as a special ranger apply only to a
commission issued under Section 411.023, Government Code, on or
after the effective date of this Act. A commission issued under
Section 411.023, Government Code, before the effective date of this
Act expires as provided by law on January 1, 2007. However, the
changes in law made by this Act with regard to the powers and duties
of a special ranger or special Texas Ranger and with regard to all
other matters apply to existing special rangers and special Texas
Rangers beginning on the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
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