HBA-DMD H.B. 1772 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1772
By: Hawley
Public Safety
4/5/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law forbids any reserve law enforcement officer from providing
off-duty security services at various functions for monetary compensation
unless the officer works at least thirty-two hours a week as a peace
officer. This restriction exists to prevent reserve officers from competing
with private enterprise security agencies.  In many small rural counties,
reserve deputies often do not meet the thirty-two hour requirement, and
those counties that do not have private security agencies must then employ
officers from urban areas and incur additional travel expense.  H.B. 1772
amends the Private Investigators and Securities Act to allow  reserve
officers in rural counties with a population of less than 20,000 to provide
compensated security services. 

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 3(a), Article 4413 (29bb), V.T.C.S. (Private
Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act), to provide that this Act
does not apply to a person who is a reserve peace officer for a county with
a population of less than 20,000 or for a department, precinct, or
political subdivision in a county with a population of less than 20,000.
Redesignates existing Subdivisions (4)-(32) to Subdivisions (5)-(33),
respectively. 

SECTION 2.Effective date: September 1, 1999.  

SECTION 3.Emergency clause.