84R25085 AAF-D
By: Villalba H.B. No. 1173
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1173:
By: Raney C.S.H.B. No. 1173
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to school marshals for public junior colleges, notifying a
parent or guardian whether an employee of a public junior college is
appointed school marshal, and the confidentiality of information
submitted to or collected by the Texas Commission on Law
Enforcement in connection with a certification for appointment as
school marshal.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Articles 2.127(a) and (d), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a school marshal
may make arrests and exercise all authority given peace officers
under this code, subject to written regulations adopted by the
board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of an
open-enrollment charter school under Section 37.0811, Education
Code, or the governing board of a public junior college under
Section 51.220, Education Code, and only act as necessary to
prevent or abate the commission of an offense that threatens
serious bodily injury or death of students, faculty, or visitors on
school premises.
(d) A person may not serve as a school marshal unless the
person is:
(1) licensed under Section 1701.260, Occupations
Code; and
(2) appointed by the board of trustees of a school
district or the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school
under Section 37.0811, Education Code, or the governing board of a
public junior college under Section 51.220, Education Code.
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.220 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.220. PUBLIC JUNIOR COLLEGE SCHOOL MARSHALS. (a) In
this section, "public junior college" has the meaning assigned by
Section 61.003.
(b) The governing board of a public junior college may
appoint one or more school marshals.
(c) The governing board of a public junior college may
select for appointment as a school marshal under this section an
applicant who is an employee of the public junior college and
certified as eligible for appointment under Section 1701.260,
Occupations Code. The governing board may, but shall not be
required to, reimburse the amount paid by the applicant to
participate in the training program under that section.
(d) A school marshal appointed by the governing board of a
public junior college may carry or possess a handgun on the physical
premises of a public junior college campus, but only:
(1) in the manner provided by written regulations
adopted by the governing board; and
(2) at a specific public junior college campus as
specified by the governing board.
(e) Any written regulations adopted for purposes of
Subsection (d) must provide that a school marshal may carry a
concealed handgun as described by Subsection (d), except that if
the primary duty of the school marshal involves regular, direct
contact with students, the marshal may not carry a concealed
handgun but may possess a handgun on the physical premises of a
public junior college campus in a locked and secured safe within the
marshal's immediate reach when conducting the marshal's primary
duty. The written regulations must also require that a handgun
carried by or within access of a school marshal may be loaded only
with frangible ammunition designed to disintegrate on impact for
maximum safety and minimal danger to others.
(f) A school marshal may access a handgun under this section
only under circumstances that would justify the use of deadly force
under Section 9.32 or 9.33, Penal Code.
(g) A public junior college employee's status as a school
marshal becomes inactive on:
(1) expiration of the employee's school marshal
license under Section 1701.260, Occupations Code;
(2) suspension or revocation of the employee's license
to carry a concealed handgun issued under Subchapter H, Chapter
411, Government Code;
(3) termination of the employee's employment with the
public junior college; or
(4) notice from the governing board of the public
junior college that the employee's services as school marshal are
no longer required.
(h) The identity of a school marshal appointed under this
section is confidential, except as provided by Section 1701.260(j),
Occupations Code, and is not subject to a request under Chapter 552,
Government Code.
(i) If a parent or guardian of a student enrolled at a public
junior college inquires in writing, the governing board of the
public junior college shall provide the parent or guardian written
notice indicating whether any employee of the public junior college
is currently appointed a school marshal. The notice may not
disclose information that is confidential under Subsection (h).
SECTION 3. Sections 1701.260(a), (j), and (l), Occupations
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall establish and maintain a training
program open to any employee of a school district, [or]
open-enrollment charter school, or public junior college who holds
a license to carry a concealed handgun issued under Subchapter H,
Chapter 411, Government Code. The training may be conducted only by
the commission staff or a provider approved by the commission.
(j) The commission shall submit the identifying information
collected under Subsection (b) for each person licensed by the
commission under this section to:
(1) the director of the Department of Public Safety;
(2) the person's employer, if the person is employed by
a school district, [or] open-enrollment charter school, or public
junior college;
(3) the chief law enforcement officer of the local
municipal law enforcement agency if the person is employed at a
campus of a school district, [or] open-enrollment charter school,
or public junior college located within a municipality;
(4) the sheriff of the county if the person is employed
at a campus of a school district, [or] open-enrollment charter
school, or public junior college that is not located within a
municipality; and
(5) the chief administrator of any peace officer
commissioned under Section 37.081 or 51.203, Education Code, if the
person is employed at a school district or public junior college
that has commissioned a peace officer under either [that] section.
(l) All [Identifying] information [about a person]
collected or submitted under this section is confidential, except
as provided by Subsection (j), and is not subject to disclosure
under Chapter 552, Government Code.
SECTION 4. Section 1701.001(8), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(8) "School marshal" means a person employed and
appointed by the board of trustees of a school district, [or] the
governing body of an open-enrollment charter school, or the
governing board of a public junior college under Article 2.127,
Code of Criminal Procedure, and in accordance with and having the
rights provided by Section 37.0811 or 51.220, Education Code.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.