Bill Text: TX HB1173 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Relating to school marshals for public junior colleges, notifying a parent or guardian whether an employee of a public junior college is appointed school marshal, and the confidentiality of information submitted to or collected by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement in connection with a certification for appointment as school marshal.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-05-05 - Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar [HB1173 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB1173-Comm_Sub.html
  84R25085 AAF-D
 
  By: Villalba H.B. No. 1173
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1173:
 
  By:  Raney C.S.H.B. No. 1173
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to school marshals for public junior colleges, notifying a
  parent or guardian whether an employee of a public junior college is
  appointed school marshal, and the confidentiality of information
  submitted to or collected by the Texas Commission on Law
  Enforcement in connection with a certification for appointment as
  school marshal.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Articles 2.127(a) and (d), Code of Criminal
  Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), a school marshal
  may make arrests and exercise all authority given peace officers
  under this code, subject to written regulations adopted by the
  board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of an
  open-enrollment charter school under Section 37.0811, Education
  Code, or the governing board of a public junior college under
  Section 51.220, Education Code, and only act as necessary to
  prevent or abate the commission of an offense that threatens
  serious bodily injury or death of students, faculty, or visitors on
  school premises.
         (d)  A person may not serve as a school marshal unless the
  person is:
               (1)  licensed under Section 1701.260, Occupations
  Code; and
               (2)  appointed by the board of trustees of a school
  district or the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school
  under Section 37.0811, Education Code, or the governing board of a
  public junior college under Section 51.220, Education Code.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 51.220 to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.220.  PUBLIC JUNIOR COLLEGE SCHOOL MARSHALS. (a) In
  this section, "public junior college" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 61.003.
         (b)  The governing board of a public junior college may
  appoint one or more school marshals.
         (c)  The governing board of a public junior college may
  select for appointment as a school marshal under this section an
  applicant who is an employee of the public junior college and
  certified as eligible for appointment under Section 1701.260,
  Occupations Code. The governing board may, but shall not be
  required to, reimburse the amount paid by the applicant to
  participate in the training program under that section.
         (d)  A school marshal appointed by the governing board of a
  public junior college may carry or possess a handgun on the physical
  premises of a public junior college campus, but only:
               (1)  in the manner provided by written regulations
  adopted by the governing board; and
               (2)  at a specific public junior college campus as
  specified by the governing board.
         (e)  Any written regulations adopted for purposes of
  Subsection (d) must provide that a school marshal may carry a
  concealed handgun as described by Subsection (d), 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 by or within access of a school marshal may be loaded only
  with frangible ammunition designed to disintegrate on impact for
  maximum safety and minimal danger to others.
         (f)  A school marshal may access a handgun under this section
  only under circumstances that would justify the use of deadly force
  under Section 9.32 or 9.33, Penal Code.
         (g)  A public junior college employee's status as a school
  marshal becomes inactive on:
               (1)  expiration of the employee's school marshal
  license under Section 1701.260, Occupations Code;
               (2)  suspension or revocation of the employee's license
  to carry a concealed handgun issued under Subchapter H, Chapter
  411, Government Code;
               (3)  termination of the employee's employment with the
  public junior college; or
               (4)  notice from the governing board of the public
  junior college that the employee's services as school marshal are
  no longer required.
         (h)  The identity of a school marshal appointed under this
  section is confidential, except as provided by Section 1701.260(j),
  Occupations Code, and is not subject to a request under Chapter 552,
  Government Code.
         (i)  If a parent or guardian of a student enrolled at a public
  junior college inquires in writing, the governing board of the
  public junior college shall provide the parent or guardian written
  notice indicating whether any employee of the public junior college
  is currently appointed a school marshal. The notice may not
  disclose information that is confidential under Subsection (h).
         SECTION 3.  Sections 1701.260(a), (j), and (l), Occupations
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The commission shall establish and maintain a training
  program open to any employee of a school district, [or]
  open-enrollment charter school, or public junior college who holds
  a license to carry a concealed handgun issued under Subchapter H,
  Chapter 411, Government Code. The training may be conducted only by
  the commission staff or a provider approved by the commission.
         (j)  The commission shall submit the identifying information
  collected under Subsection (b) for each person licensed by the
  commission under this section to:
               (1)  the director of the Department of Public Safety;
               (2)  the person's employer, if the person is employed by
  a school district, [or] open-enrollment charter school, or public
  junior college;
               (3)  the chief law enforcement officer of the local
  municipal law enforcement agency if the person is employed at a
  campus of a school district, [or] open-enrollment charter school,
  or public junior college located within a municipality;
               (4)  the sheriff of the county if the person is employed
  at a campus of a school district, [or] open-enrollment charter
  school, or public junior college that is not located within a
  municipality; and
               (5)  the chief administrator of any peace officer
  commissioned under Section 37.081 or 51.203, Education Code, if the
  person is employed at a school district or public junior college
  that has commissioned a peace officer under either [that] section.
         (l)  All [Identifying] information [about a person]
  collected or submitted under this section is confidential, except
  as provided by Subsection (j), and is not subject to disclosure
  under Chapter 552, Government Code.
         SECTION 4.  Section 1701.001(8), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
               (8)  "School marshal" means a person employed and
  appointed by the board of trustees of a school district, [or] the
  governing body of an open-enrollment charter school, or the
  governing board of a public junior college under Article 2.127,
  Code of Criminal Procedure, and in accordance with and having the
  rights provided by Section 37.0811 or 51.220, Education Code.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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