By: Carona S.B. No. 1165
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of certain vehicles for law enforcement
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subdivisions (1) and (13-a), Section 541.201,
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(1) "Authorized emergency vehicle" means:
(A) a fire department or police vehicle;
(B) a public or private ambulance operated by a
person who has been issued a license by the Texas Department of
Health;
(C) a municipal department or public service
corporation emergency vehicle that has been designated or
authorized by the governing body of a municipality;
(D) a private vehicle of a volunteer firefighter
or a certified emergency medical services employee or volunteer
when responding to a fire alarm or medical emergency;
(E) an industrial emergency response vehicle,
including an industrial ambulance, when responding to an emergency,
but only if the vehicle is operated in compliance with criteria in
effect September 1, 1989, and established by the predecessor of the
Texas Industrial Emergency Services Board of the State Firemen's
and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas; [or]
(F) a vehicle of a blood bank or tissue bank,
accredited or approved under the laws of this state or the United
States, when making emergency deliveries of blood, drugs,
medicines, or organs; or
(G) a vehicle used for law enforcement purposes
that is owned or leased by a federal governmental entity.
(13-a) "Police vehicle" means a vehicle [of a
governmental entity primarily] used by a peace officer, as defined
by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, for law enforcement
purposes that:
(A) is owned or leased by a governmental entity;
(B) is owned or leased by the police department
of a private institution of higher education that commissions peace
officers under Section 51.212, Education Code; or
(C) is:
(i) a private vehicle owned or leased by the
peace officer; and
(ii) approved for use for law enforcement
purposes by the head of the law enforcement agency that employs the
peace officer, or by that person's designee.
SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 545.421, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) A signal under this section that is given by a police
officer pursuing a vehicle may be by hand, voice, emergency light,
or siren. The officer giving the signal must be in uniform and
prominently display the officer's badge of office. The officer's
vehicle must bear the insignia of a law enforcement agency,
regardless of whether the vehicle displays an emergency light [be
appropriately marked as an official police vehicle].
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.