81R660 PAM-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 953
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the employment of school district peace officers and
the enforcement of certain violations under a student code of
conduct.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 37.081(a), (f), and (h), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The board of trustees of an independent [any] school
district may employ security personnel and may commission peace
officers to carry out this subchapter. If a board of trustees
authorizes a person employed as security personnel to carry a
weapon, the person must be a commissioned peace officer. The
jurisdiction of a peace officer or security personnel under this
section shall be determined by the board of trustees and may include
all territory in the boundaries of the school district and all
property outside the boundaries of the district that is owned,
leased, or rented by or otherwise under the control of the school
district and the board of trustees that employ the peace officer or
security personnel.
(f) The chief of police of the school district police
department shall be accountable to the superintendent and shall
report to the superintendent or to the assistant, associate, or
deputy superintendent designated by the superintendent
[superintendent's designee]. School district police officers
shall be supervised by the chief of police of the school district or
a police officer designated by the chief of police. School district
police officers must [police's designee and shall] be licensed by
the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.
(h) [A peace officer assigned to duty and commissioned under
this section shall take and file the oath required of peace officers
and shall execute and file a bond in the sum of $1,000, payable to
the board of trustees, with two or more sureties, conditioned that
the peace officer will fairly, impartially, and faithfully perform
all the duties that may be required of the peace officer by law. The
bond may be sued on in the name of any person injured until the whole
amount of the bond is recovered.] Any peace officer commissioned
under this section must meet all minimum standards for peace
officers established by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
Standards and Education.
SECTION 2. Section 37.102, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) Subsection (c) does not apply to conduct by a student
that violates the student code of conduct if the conduct is not an
offense under other law or under a specific rule adopted by the
board of trustees under this subchapter.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.