By: Toth H.B. No. 4349
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the duties of a constable and deputy constable;
authorizing certification.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 621.401, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 621.401. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "weight
enforcement officer" means:
(1) a license and weight inspector of the Department
of Public Safety;
(2) a highway patrol officer;
(3) a sheriff or sheriff's deputy;
(4) a municipal police officer in a municipality with
a population of:
(A) 100,000 or more; or
(B) 74,000 or more in a county with a population
of more than 1.5 million;
(5) a police officer certified under Section 644.101;
or
(6) a constable or deputy constable [designated under
Section 621.4015].
SECTION 2. Section 644.101(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The department shall establish procedures, including
training, for the certification of municipal police officers,
sheriffs, [and] deputy sheriffs, constables, and deputy constables
to enforce this chapter.
SECTION 3. Section 644.103(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A municipal police officer who is certified under
Section 644.101 may stop, enter, or detain on a highway or at a port
of entry within the territory of the municipality a motor vehicle
that is subject to this chapter. A sheriff, [or] deputy sheriff,
constable, or deputy constable who is certified under Section
644.101 may stop, enter, or detain on a highway or at a port of entry
within the territory of the county a motor vehicle that is subject
to this chapter.
SECTION 4. Section 621.4015, Transportation Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 5. 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, 2019.