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.