H.B. No. 781
AN ACT
relating to the carrying and possession of a handgun by a public
junior college school marshal.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.220(e), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) Any written regulations adopted for purposes of
Subsection (d):
(1) must:
(A) authorize [provide that] a school marshal to
[may] carry a concealed handgun as described by Subsection (d); and
(B) [, 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 or possessed by [or within
access of] a school marshal to [may] be loaded only with frangible
duty ammunition approved for that purpose by the Texas Commission
on Law Enforcement; and
(2) may not require a school marshal to store the
handgun in a locked container while on duty.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
academic year.
SECTION 3. 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, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 781 was passed by the House on April
29, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 104, Nays 43, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 781 was passed by the Senate on May
20, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 20, Nays 11.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor