BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3623

By: Hefner

Youth Health & Safety, Select

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Public schools districts, open-enrollment charter schools, and private schools are seeking opportunities to cooperate on school security during cross-district events, such as football games and UIL meets. While, under Texas law, school guardians are able to serve outside their home district with written permission from the district they are visiting, no such authorization exists for school marshals. C.S.H.B. 3623 seeks to provide for the authority of a public school district, open-enrollment charter school, or private school to enter into a memorandum of understanding regarding a school marshal of one district or school acting as a school marshal at the other district or school during an applicable event.

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. 3623 amends the Education Code to authorize a public or private primary or secondary school, defined by the bill as a public school district, open-enrollment charter school, or private school, to enter into a memorandum of understanding with another public or private primary or secondary school under which a school marshal appointed to a campus of the school may temporarily act as a school marshal at a campus of the other school for the duration of an event occurring at the campus of the other school at which both schools are participating. The bill provides the following with respect to the memorandum of understanding:

· requires the memorandum to comply with the requirements for written regulations adopted by a district's board of trustees or a charter school's or private school's governing body, as applicable, that relate to a school marshal carrying a concealed handgun or possessing a handgun on a school's physical premises; and

· authorizes the memorandum to be used to satisfy the requirement for written regulations or written authorization under applicable Penal Code provisions to allow a school marshal to carry a firearm on the premises of the public or private primary or secondary school at which the event occurs.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3623 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.

While the provisions of both the introduced and substitute apply to a public school district and an open-enrollment charter school, the substitute's provisions also apply to a private school.