By: Simmons (Senate Sponsor - Campbell) H.B. No. 2162
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2015;
May 13, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
Intergovernmental Relations; May 25, 2015, reported adversely,
with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5,
Nays 0; May 25, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2162 By: Campbell
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to municipal regulation of the use of alarm systems;
authorizing a municipal fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 214.191, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214.191. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Alarm system" means a device or system that
transmits a signal intended to summon police of a municipality in
response to a burglary. The term includes an alarm that emits an
audible signal on the exterior of a structure. The term does not
include an alarm installed on a vehicle, unless the vehicle is used
for a habitation at a permanent site, or an alarm designed to alert
only the inhabitants within the premises.
(2) "Alarm systems monitor" means a person who acts as
an alarm systems company under Section 1702.105, Occupations Code.
(3) "False alarm" means a notification of possible
criminal activity reported to law enforcement:
(A) that is based solely on electronic
information remotely received by an alarm systems monitor;
(B) that is uncorroborated by eyewitness, video,
or photographic evidence that an emergency exists; and
(C) concerning which an agency of the
municipality has verified that no emergency exists after an on-site
inspection of the location from which the notification originated.
(4) [(2)] "Permit" means a certificate, license,
permit, or other form of permission that authorizes a person to
engage in an action.
SECTION 2. Section 214.194(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A municipal permit fee imposed under this section for an
alarm system may not exceed the rate of:
(1) $50 a year for a residential location; and
(2) $250 a year for other alarm system locations.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 214.195, Local Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214.195. NONRENEWAL OR REVOCATION OF PERMIT; [AND]
TERMINATION OF MUNICIPAL RESPONSE; DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED.
SECTION 4. Section 214.195, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided in Subsections [Subsection] (d) and
(e), a municipality may not terminate its law enforcement response
to a residential permit holder because of excess false alarms if the
false alarm fees are paid in full.
(e) A municipality may refuse to respond to a location if
the location has had more than eight other false alarms during the
preceding 12-month period.
SECTION 5. Section 214.196, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214.196. ON-SITE INSPECTION REQUIRED. A municipality
may not consider a false alarm to have occurred unless a response is
made by an agency of the municipality within a reasonable time [30
minutes of the alarm notification] and the agency determines from
an inspection of the interior or exterior of the premises that the
alarm report by an alarm systems monitor was false.
SECTION 6. Section 214.197, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214.197. PENALTIES FOR FALSE ALARMS. (a) A
municipality may impose a penalty on a person who uses an alarm
system in the municipality for the report [signaling] of a false
alarm by an alarm systems monitor [a burglar alarm system] if at
least three other false alarms have occurred at that location
during the preceding 12-month period. The amount of the penalty for
the report [signaling] of a false alarm as described by Section
214.196 may not exceed:
(1) $50, if the location has had more than three but
fewer than six other false alarms in the preceding 12-month period;
(2) $75, if the location has had more than five but
fewer than eight other false alarms in the preceding 12-month
period; or
(3) $100, if the location has had eight or more other
false alarms in the preceding 12-month period.
(b) A municipality may not impose a penalty authorized under
Subsection (a) if reasonable visual proof of possible criminal
activity recorded by an alarm systems monitor is provided to the
municipality before the inspection of the premises by an agency of
the municipality.
(c) A municipality that adopts an ordinance requiring a
person to obtain a permit from the municipality before the person
may use an alarm system in the municipality may impose a penalty,
not to exceed $250, for the report of a false alarm by an alarm
systems monitor on a person who has not obtained a permit for the
alarm system as required by the municipal ordinance.
(d) A municipality:
(1) may impose a penalty, not to exceed $250, for the
report of a false alarm on a person not licensed under Chapter 1702,
Occupations Code, that to any extent is reported or facilitated by
the unlicensed person; and
(2) may not impose a penalty for the report of a false
alarm on a person licensed under Chapter 1702, Occupations Code.
(e) A municipality may not impose or collect any fine, fee,
or penalty related to a false alarm or alarm system unless the fine,
fee, or penalty is defined in the ordinance in accordance with this
subchapter.
SECTION 7. The heading to Section 214.198, Local Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214.198. PROCEDURES FOR REDUCING FALSE ALARMS
[VERIFICATION].
SECTION 8. Section 214.200(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A municipality that does not respond to an alarm system
signal is not liable for damages that may occur relating to the
cause of the alarm system signal.
SECTION 9. Subchapter F, Chapter 214, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 214.201 to read as follows:
Sec. 214.201. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN ALARM SYSTEMS BY OWNER.
(a) A property owner or an agent of the property owner authorized
to make decisions regarding the use of the property may elect to
exclude the municipality from receiving an alarm signal by an alarm
system located on the owner's property. A municipality may adopt an
ordinance that specifies the requirements a property owner must
satisfy for an election to be made under this section.
(b) If an election is made under Subsection (a), the
municipality:
(1) may not impose a fee to obtain a permit to use the
alarm system;
(2) may impose a fee on the property owner, not to
exceed $250, for each law enforcement response to a signal from the
alarm system requested by an alarm systems monitor; and
(3) may not impose or collect any other fine, penalty,
or fee, other than a collection fee, related to the alarm system.
SECTION 10. With respect to a municipality that on the
effective date of this Act is a party to a contract with a third
party to provide alarm system services, the changes in law made by
this Act apply beginning after the date the contract, including any
renewals, is terminated or expires by the contract's own terms.
During the period a contract described by this section is
effective, the municipality is governed by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 11. 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, 2015.
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