86R12134 JCG-D
 
  By: Creighton S.B. No. 2127
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to a border volunteer training program for peace officers
  employed by local law enforcement agencies.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 411.02096 to read as follows:
         Sec. 411.02096.  BORDER VOLUNTEER TRAINING PROGRAM;
  COMMISSION. (a) The department, in coordination with local law
  enforcement agencies, shall establish and administer a voluntary
  training program for peace officers employed by local law
  enforcement agencies that will prepare the officers to:
               (1)  collaborate and cooperate with and assist any law
  enforcement agency in the interdiction, investigation, and
  prosecution of criminal activity in the Texas-Mexico border region;
  and
               (2)  collaborate and cooperate with and assist district
  attorneys, county attorneys, the Border Prosecution Unit, and other
  prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of allegations of
  criminal activity in the Texas-Mexico border region.
         (b)  The training program under Subsection (a) must include:
               (1)  information on criminal activity occurring along
  the Texas-Mexico border, including drug trafficking and
  trafficking of persons and other activity carried out by cartels,
  transnational gangs, and other groups engaged in organized criminal
  activity;
               (2)  best practices for investigating and prosecuting
  the criminal activity described by Subdivision (1) and securing the
  Texas-Mexico border; and
               (3)  an overview of the department's operations at the
  Texas-Mexico border, including any collaboration with United
  States Customs and Border Protection.
         (c)  If a peace officer described by Subsection (a)
  successfully completes the training program under this section and
  volunteers to assist the department and the United States Customs
  and Border Protection with securing the Texas-Mexico border, the
  department may:
               (1)  commission the officer as an officer of the
  department; and
               (2)  deploy the officer to assist the department and,
  as applicable, the United States Customs and Border Protection, in
  securing the Texas-Mexico border.
         (d)  A commission under Subsection (c) expires as determined
  by the department. The department is not required to comply with
  Section 1701.303, Occupations Code, with respect to a peace officer
  commissioned under Subsection (c).
         (e)  A volunteer peace officer deployed by the department
  under Subsection (c) is not entitled to compensation for the
  assistance provided.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.