By: Taylor of Collin S.B. No. 444
(In the Senate - Filed January 9, 2017; February 6, 2017,
read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
May 3, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11,
Nays 0; May 3, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to school marshals for private schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 2.127, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (d) and adding Subsection
(a-1) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a school marshal
may:
(1) make arrests and exercise all authority given
peace officers under this code, subject to written regulations
adopted by:
(A) the board of trustees of a school district or
the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school under
Section 37.0811, Education Code;
(B) the governing body of a private school under
Section 37.0813, Education Code; [,] or
(C) the governing board of a public junior
college under Section 51.220, Education Code; [,] and
(2) 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.
(a-1) In this section, "private school" means a school that:
(1) offers a course of instruction for students in one
or more grades from prekindergarten through grade 12;
(2) is not operated by a governmental entity; and
(3) is not a school whose students meet the definition
provided by Section 29.916(a)(1), Education Code.
(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:
(A) the board of trustees of a school district or
the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school under
Section 37.0811, Education Code;
(B) the governing body of a private school under
Section 37.0813, Education Code; [,] or
(C) the governing board of a public junior
college under Section 51.220, Education Code.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 37.0811, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 37.0811. SCHOOL MARSHALS: PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.0813 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.0813. SCHOOL MARSHALS: PRIVATE SCHOOLS. (a) The
governing body of a private school may appoint not more than the
greater of:
(1) one school marshal per 200 students enrolled in
the school; or
(2) one school marshal per building of the school at
which students regularly receive classroom instruction.
(b) The governing body of a private school may select for
appointment as a school marshal under this section an applicant who
is an employee of the school and certified as eligible for
appointment under Section 1701.260, Occupations Code.
(c) A school marshal appointed by the governing body of a
private school may carry or possess a handgun on the physical
premises of a school, but only in the manner provided by written
regulations adopted by the governing body.
(d) Any written regulations adopted for purposes of
Subsection (c) must provide that a school marshal may carry a
concealed handgun as described by Subsection (c), except that if
the primary duty of the school marshal involves regular, direct
contact with students in a classroom setting, the marshal may not
carry a concealed handgun but may possess a handgun on the physical
premises of a school 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 duty ammunition approved for that purpose by the
Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
(e) 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.
(f) A private school 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 handgun issued under Subchapter H, Chapter 411,
Government Code;
(3) termination of the employee's employment with the
private school; or
(4) notice from the governing body that the employee's
services as school marshal are no longer required.
(g) 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.
(h) If a parent or guardian of a student enrolled at a
private school inquires in writing, the school shall provide the
parent or guardian written notice indicating whether any employee
of the school is currently appointed a school marshal. The notice
may not disclose information that is confidential under Subsection
(g).
(i) This section does not apply to a school whose students
meet the definition provided by Section 29.916(a)(1).
SECTION 4. Section 1701.001(8), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(8) "School marshal" means a person who:
(A) is [employed and] appointed to serve as a
school marshal by:
(i) the board of trustees of a school
district or[,] the governing body of an open-enrollment charter
school under Section 37.0811, Education Code;
(ii) the governing body of a private school
under Section 37.0813, Education Code; [,] or
(iii) 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;
(B) is licensed under Section 1701.260; and
(C) has powers and duties described by Article
2.127, Code of Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 5. Section 1701.260, Occupations Code, is amended
by amending Subsections (a) and (j) and adding Subsection (a-1) to
read as follows:
(a) The commission shall establish and maintain a training
program open to any employee of a school district, open-enrollment
charter school, private school, or public junior college who holds
a license to carry a 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.
(a-1) In this section, "private school" has the meaning
assigned by Article 2.127, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(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, open-enrollment charter school, private 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, open-enrollment charter school,
private 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, open-enrollment charter school,
private 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 section.
SECTION 6. 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, 2017.
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