BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2269

By: Dutton

Youth Health & Safety, Select

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current law, public school districts may enter into memoranda of understanding with local law enforcement agencies for the provision of school resource officers. However, some law enforcement agencies rely on the schools to hire off-duty officers at a high hourly rate or even ask the school to cover a disproportionate share of costs. Additionally, concerns on behalf of these districts have risen as to the ambiguity about contracting with armed security personnel and whether armed security personnel must also be peace officers in order to be employed versus hiring them as independent contractors. C.S.H.B. 2269 clarifies that any agreement between public schools and local law enforcement agencies is an interlocal cooperative agreement and a cost allocation method should be used where schools are not forced to pay disproportionate costs. The bill also provides for the authority of school districts to contract with security personnel.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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

C.S.H.B. 2269 amends the Education Code to include a county or municipality that is the employing political subdivision of commissioned peace officers as entities in addition to a local law enforcement agency with whom the board of trustees of any public school district may enter into a memorandum of understanding for the provision of school resource officers. The bill requires such a memorandum of understanding to be in the form of an interlocal contract under the Interlocal Cooperation Act and use a proportionate cost allocation methodology to address any costs or fees incurred by the district or the agency, county, or municipality, as applicable. The bill authorizes that methodology to allow such an applicable entity to recoup direct costs incurred as a result of the contract but prohibits the methodology from allowing that entity to profit under the contract. The bill authorizes a district, local law enforcement agency, county, or municipality that enters into a memorandum of understanding to seek funding from federal, state, and private sources to support the cost of providing school resource officers. The bill authorizes such a board of trustees to contract with security personnel in addition to employing the personnel and removes the requirement for a person employed as security personnel by the board of trustees to be a commissioned peace officer if the board authorizes the person to carry a weapon. The bill applies only to a memorandum of understanding that is entered into on or after the bill's effective date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2269 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes an authorization absent from the introduced for the board of trustees of a public school district to contract with security personnel.

The substitute includes the removal of the requirement for a person employed as security personnel by a board of trustees to be a commissioned peace officer if the board authorizes the person to carry a weapon. The introduced did not remove this requirement.