By: King, Bettencourt S.B. No. 1124
Eckhardt
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to qualifications of a sheriff or a candidate for sheriff.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 85.0011, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 85.0011. QUALIFICATIONS FOR SHERIFF OR CANDIDATE FOR
SHERIFF. (a) In this section:
(1) "Active duty" means current full-time military
service in the armed forces of the United States.
(2) "Armed forces of the United States" means the
army, navy, air force, space force, coast guard, or marine corps of
the United States or a reserve unit of one of those branches of the
armed forces.
(3) "Federal special investigator" means a person
described by Article 2.122, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(4) "Military veteran" means a person who has served
on active duty and who was discharged or released from active duty.
(b) A person is not eligible to serve as sheriff unless the
person:
(1) has a high school diploma or a high school
equivalency certificate; and
(2) either:
(A) holds an active permanent peace officer
license under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code; or
(B) is eligible to be licensed under Sections
1701.309 and 1701.312, Occupations Code, and:
(i) has a minimum of five years of
experience as a federal special investigator; or
(ii) is a military veteran with a minimum of
10 years of combined active duty or national guard service
experience.
(c) A person is not eligible to be a candidate for the office
of sheriff unless the person holds an active permanent peace
officer license under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, or is a
person described by Subsection (b)(2)(B)(i) or (ii) and obtains a
license within the time provided by Section 1701.302(a),
Occupations Code.
SECTION 2. Section 1701.302(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 85.0011, Local Government
Code, an [An] officer, including a sheriff, elected under the Texas
Constitution or a statute or appointed to fill a vacancy in an
elective office must obtain a license from the commission not later
than the second anniversary of the date the officer takes office.
SECTION 3. Section 85.0025, Local Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
85.0011 and 85.0025, Local Government Code, do not apply to a
sheriff serving a term that began before the effective date of this
Act. A sheriff serving a term that began before the effective date
of this Act is governed for the remainder of that term by Sections
85.0011 and 85.0025, Local Government Code, as those laws existed
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the prior law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.