HBA-DMD H.B. 1500 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1500 By: Turner, Bob Public Safety 2/23/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, the Office of the Attorney General (office) is authorized to employ and commission as peace officers five persons at any one time. However, with the expanded responsibilities that the attorney general has received under the Medicaid Fraud program, the increased demand for assistance to the Prosecutors' Assistance Division, and an increased number of investigations by Internal Security and Investigations of the theft of state property, the office has not been able to perform its statutory responsibilities with only five commissioned peace officers. H.B. 1500 enables the Office of the Attorney General to commission and employ as many peace officers as necessary to carry out its statutory duties. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 402.009, Government Code, to delete the prohibition that the attorney general may not employ and commission as peace officers more than five persons at any one time as investigators to assist in carrying out the duties of the office relating to prosecution assistance and crime prevention. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.