BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 1775

By: Whitmire

Public Safety

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current law, the Texas Rangers unsolved crimes investigation team is headquartered in Austin.

S.B. 1775 establishes that the unsolved crimes investigation program is an investigative program within the Department of Public Safety and a function of the Texas Rangers and requires a peace officer, to be approved for employment by the program, to be a sergeant or higher-ranked officer of the Texas Rangers with two or more years of experience in investigating homicides or other major felonies.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 1775 amends the Government Code to change the name of the unsolved crimes investigation team within the Department of Public Safety to the unsolved crimes investigation program. The bill provides that the program is a function of the Texas Rangers and removes the specification that the team is located at the headquarters of the Texas Rangers in Austin, Texas. The bill requires a peace officer, to be eligible for employment with this program, to be a sergeant or higher-ranked officer of the Texas Rangers and to have two or more years of experience in the investigation of homicides or other major felonies. The bill removes, as an alternative to the two or more years of investigative experience required for eligibility, the requirement for a peace officer to have not less than four years of experience as a peace officer and a degree from an accredited institution of higher education in law, accounting, or computer science.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.