Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB647 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Estes S.B. No. 647
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the authority of an open-enrollment charter school to
7	7	commission peace officers.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 37.081, Education Code, is amended to
10	10	read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 37.081. SCHOOL [DISTRICT] PEACE OFFICERS AND SECURITY
12	12	PERSONNEL. (a) The board of trustees of any school district and
13	13	the governing body of any open-enrollment charter school may employ
14	14	security personnel and may commission peace officers to carry out
15	15	this subchapter. If a board of trustees or governing body
16	16	authorizes a person employed as security personnel to carry a
17	17	weapon, the person must be a commissioned peace officer. The
18	18	jurisdiction of a peace officer or security personnel under this
19	19	section shall be determined by the board of trustees or governing
20	20	body and may include:
21	21	(1) for a school district, all territory in the
22	22	boundaries of the school district and all property outside the
23	23	boundaries of the district that is owned, leased, or rented by or
24	24	otherwise under the control of the school district and the board of
25	25	trustees that employ the peace officer or security personnel; or
26	26	(2) for an open-enrollment charter school, all
27	27	territory in the boundaries of the school district in which the
28	28	open-enrollment charter school is located and all property outside
29	29	the boundaries of the district that is owned, leased, or rented by
30	30	or otherwise under the control of the governing body of the
31	31	open-enrollment charter school that employs the peace officer or
32	32	security personnel.
33	33	(b) In a peace officer's jurisdiction, a peace officer
34	34	commissioned under this section:
35	35	(1) has the powers, privileges, and immunities of
36	36	peace officers;
37	37	(2) may enforce all laws, including municipal
38	38	ordinances, county ordinances, and state laws;
39	39	(3) may, in accordance with Chapter 52, Family Code,
40	40	or Article 45.058, Code of Criminal Procedure, take a child into
41	41	custody; and
42	42	(4) may dispose of cases in accordance with Section
43	43	52.03 or 52.031, Family Code.
44	44	(c) A school [district] peace officer may provide
45	45	assistance to another law enforcement agency. A school district or
46	46	open-enrollment charter school may contract with a political
47	47	subdivision for the jurisdiction of a school [district] peace
48	48	officer to include all territory in the jurisdiction of the
49	49	political subdivision.
50	50	(d) A school [district] peace officer shall perform law
51	51	enforcement duties for the school district or open-enrollment
52	52	charter school as determined by the board of trustees of the school
53	53	district or governing body of the open-enrollment charter school.
54	54	Those duties must include protecting:
55	55	(1) the safety and welfare of any person in the
56	56	jurisdiction of the peace officer; and
57	57	(2) the property of the school district or
58	58	open-enrollment charter school.
59	59	(e) The board of trustees of the school district or the
60	60	governing body of the open-enrollment charter school shall
61	61	determine the scope of the on-duty and off-duty law enforcement
62	62	activities of school [district] peace officers. A school district
63	63	or open-enrollment charter school must authorize in writing any
64	64	off-duty law enforcement activities performed by a school
65	65	[district] peace officer.
66	66	(f) The chief of police of the school district police
67	67	department shall be accountable to the superintendent and shall
68	68	report to the superintendent. School district police officers
69	69	shall be supervised by the chief of police of the school district or
70	70	the chief of police's designee and shall be licensed by the Texas
71	71	Commission on Law Enforcement.
72	72	(f-1) Open-enrollment charter school police officers shall
73	73	be licensed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
74	74	(g) A school district police department or open-enrollment
75	75	charter school police department and the law enforcement agencies
76	76	with which it has overlapping jurisdiction shall enter into a
77	77	memorandum of understanding that outlines reasonable communication
78	78	and coordination efforts between the department and the agencies.
79	79	(h) A peace officer assigned to duty and commissioned under
80	80	this section shall take and file the oath required of peace officers
81	81	and shall execute and file a bond in the sum of $1,000, payable to
82	82	the board of trustees of the school district or governing body of
83	83	the open-enrollment charter school, with two or more sureties,
84	84	conditioned that the peace officer will fairly, impartially, and
85	85	faithfully perform all the duties that may be required of the peace
86	86	officer by law. The bond may be sued on in the name of any person
87	87	injured until the whole amount of the bond is recovered. Any peace
88	88	officer commissioned under this section must meet all minimum
89	89	standards for peace officers established by the Texas Commission on
90	90	Law Enforcement.
91	91	(i) In this section:
92	92	(1) "Governing body of an open-enrollment charter
93	93	school" means the board of directors, board of trustees, or other
94	94	governing body of an open-enrollment charter school. The term
95	95	includes the governing body of a charter holder if that body acts as
96	96	the governing body of the open-enrollment charter school.
97	97	(2) "School peace officer" means a peace officer
98	98	commissioned by a school district or open-enrollment charter school
99	99	under this section.
100	100	SECTION 2. Section 52.01(a), Family Code, is amended to
101	101	read as follows:
102	102	(a) A child may be taken into custody:
103	103	(1) pursuant to an order of the juvenile court under
104	104	the provisions of this subtitle;
105	105	(2) pursuant to the laws of arrest;
106	106	(3) by a law-enforcement officer, including a school
107	107	[district] peace officer commissioned under Section 37.081,
108	108	Education Code, if there is probable cause to believe that the child
109	109	has engaged in:
110	110	(A) conduct that violates a penal law of this
111	111	state or a penal ordinance of any political subdivision of this
112	112	state;
113	113	(B) delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a
114	114	need for supervision; or
115	115	(C) conduct that violates a condition of
116	116	probation imposed by the juvenile court;
117	117	(4) by a probation officer if there is probable cause
118	118	to believe that the child has violated a condition of probation
119	119	imposed by the juvenile court;
120	120	(5) pursuant to a directive to apprehend issued as
121	121	provided by Section 52.015; or
122	122	(6) by a probation officer if there is probable cause
123	123	to believe that the child has violated a condition of release
124	124	imposed by the juvenile court or referee under Section 54.01.
125	125	SECTION 3. Section 1701.260(j), Occupations Code, is
126	126	amended to read as follows:
127	127	(j) The commission shall submit the identifying information
128	128	collected under Subsection (b) for each person licensed by the
129	129	commission under this section to:
130	130	(1) the director of the Department of Public Safety;
131	131	(2) the person's employer, if the person is employed by
132	132	a school district or open-enrollment charter school;
133	133	(3) the chief law enforcement officer of the local
134	134	municipal law enforcement agency if the person is employed at a
135	135	campus of a school district or open-enrollment charter school
136	136	located within a municipality;
137	137	(4) the sheriff of the county if the person is employed
138	138	at a campus of a school district or open-enrollment charter school
139	139	that is not located within a municipality; and
140	140	(5) the chief administrator of any peace officer
141	141	commissioned under Section 37.081, Education Code, if the person is
142	142	employed at a school district or open-enrollment charter school
143	143	that has commissioned a peace officer under that section.
144	144	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.