By: Patrick S.B. No. 358
(In the Senate - Filed December 12, 2008; February 17, 2009,
read first time and referred to Committee on Transportation and
Homeland Security; April 29, 2009, reported adversely, with
favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5,
Nays 4; April 29, 2009, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 358 By: Carona
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the enforcement of state and federal laws governing
immigration by certain governmental entities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 370.003, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 370.003. LOCAL GOVERNMENT [MUNICIPAL OR COUNTY] POLICY
REGARDING ENFORCEMENT OF STATE AND FEDERAL [DRUG] LAWS. (a) The
governing body of a municipality, [the commissioners court of a]
county, or special district or authority, or an officer, employee,
or other body that is part of a municipality, county, or special
district or authority, including a sheriff, municipal police
department, municipal attorney, county attorney, district
attorney, or criminal district attorney, may not adopt a policy
under which the entity will not fully enforce the laws of this state
or federal law relating to:
(1) drugs, including Chapters 481 and 483, Health and
Safety Code; and
(2) immigrants or immigration, including the federal
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1373)[, and
federal law].
(b) In compliance with Subsection (a)(2), a local entity
described by Subsection (a) may not prohibit or in any manner
restrict an officer, employee, or other body that is part of the
local entity, including a sheriff, municipal police department,
municipal attorney, county attorney, district attorney, or
criminal district attorney, from, with respect to information
relating to the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any
individual:
(1) sending the information to or requesting or
receiving the information from the United States Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration Services or United States Immigration
and Customs Enforcement, including information regarding an
individual's place of birth;
(2) maintaining the information; or
(3) exchanging the information with another federal,
state, or local governmental entity.
(c) In addition to requirements imposed by Subsection (b), a
local entity described by Subsection (a) may not prohibit or in any
manner restrict an officer, employee, or other body that is part of
the local entity, including a sheriff, municipal police department,
municipal attorney, county attorney, district attorney, or
criminal district attorney, from doing any of the following:
(1) assisting or cooperating with a federal
immigration officer as reasonable and necessary, including
providing enforcement assistance; or
(2) permitting a federal immigration officer to enter
and conduct enforcement activities at a municipal or county jail to
enforce federal immigration laws.
(d) A local entity described by Subsection (a) may not
receive state grant funds if the local entity adopts a rule, order,
ordinance, or policy under which the local entity violates
Subsection (c) or will not fully enforce the laws of this state or
federal laws relating to Subsection (a)(2) or, by consistent
actions, violates Subsection (c) or fails to fully enforce the laws
of this state or federal laws relating to Subsection (a)(2). State
grant funds for the local entity shall be denied for the fiscal year
following the year in which the rule, order, ordinance, or policy is
adopted or the determination is made that the entity has
intentionally violated Subsection (c) or failed to fully enforce
the laws of this state or federal laws relating to Subsection
(a)(2). The Governor's Office of Budget, Planning, and Policy
shall adopt rules to implement this subsection uniformly among the
state agencies from which state grant funds are distributed to a
local entity.
(e) Any citizen residing in a local entity described by
Subsection (a) that allegedly adopts a rule, order, ordinance, or
policy under which the local entity violates Subsection (c) or will
not fully enforce the laws of this state or federal laws relating to
Subsection (a)(2) or, by consistent actions, violates Subsection
(c) or fails to fully enforce the laws of this state or federal laws
relating to Subsection (a)(2) may file a petition in a district
court of a county in which the entity is located for a writ of
mandamus to compel compliance with Subsection (c) or Subsection
(a)(2).
SECTION 2. The heading to Chapter 370, Local Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 370. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO [MUNICIPAL AND
COUNTY] HEALTH AND PUBLIC SAFETY APPLYING TO MORE THAN ONE
TYPE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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.
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