Bill Text: TX HB2162 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to municipal regulation of the use of alarm systems; authorizing a municipal fee.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)

Status: (Passed) 2015-06-18 - Effective on 9/1/15 [HB2162 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB2162-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 2162

AN ACT
relating to municipal regulation of the use of alarm systems;
authorizing a municipal fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter F, Chapter 214, Local
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEMS IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES
WHOLLY LOCATED IN CERTAIN COUNTIES
SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 214, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 214.1915 to read as follows:
Sec. 214.1915. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
to a municipality with a population of less than 100,000 that is
located wholly in a county with a population of less than 500,000.
SECTION 3. Chapter 214, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter F-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F-1. BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEMS IN LARGE MUNICIPALITIES AND
MUNICIPALITIES WHOLLY OR PARTLY LOCATED IN LARGE COUNTIES
Sec. 214.201. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Alarm system" and "permit" have the meanings
assigned by Section 214.191.
(2) "Alarm systems monitor" means a person who acts as
an alarm systems company under Section 1702.105, Occupations Code.
(3) "False alarm" means a notification of possible
criminal activity reported to law enforcement:
(A) that is based solely on electronic
information remotely received by an alarm systems monitor;
(B) that is uncorroborated by eyewitness, video,
or photographic evidence that an emergency exists; and
(C) concerning which an agency of the
municipality has verified that no emergency exists after an on-site
inspection of the location from which the notification originated.
Sec. 214.2015. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter does not
apply to a municipality to which Subchapter F applies.
Sec. 214.202. CATEGORIES OF ALARM SYSTEMS. The category of
alarm system to be regulated is burglary.
Sec. 214.203. DURATION OF MUNICIPAL PERMIT. (a) If a
municipality adopts an ordinance that requires a person to obtain a
permit from the municipality before a person may use an alarm system
in the municipality, the ordinance must provide that the permit is
valid for at least one year.
(b) This requirement does not affect the authority of the
municipality to:
(1) revoke, suspend, or otherwise affect the duration
of a permit for disciplinary reasons at any time during the period
for which the permit is issued; or
(2) make a permit valid for a period of less than one
year if necessary to conform the permit to the termination schedule
established by the municipality for permits.
Sec. 214.204. MUNICIPAL PERMIT FEE GENERALLY. (a) If a
municipality adopts an ordinance that requires a person to pay an
annual fee to obtain a permit from the municipality before the
person may use an alarm system in the municipality, the fee shall be
used for the general administration of this subchapter, including
the provision of responses generally required to implement this
subchapter other than specific responses to false alarms.
(b) A municipal permit fee imposed under this section for an
alarm system may not exceed the rate of:
(1) $50 a year for a residential location; and
(2) $250 a year for other alarm system locations.
Sec. 214.205. NONRENEWAL OR REVOCATION OF PERMIT;
TERMINATION OF MUNICIPAL RESPONSE; DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED. (a)
Except as provided by Subsection (d), a municipality may not
terminate its law enforcement response to a residential permit
holder because of excess false alarms if the false alarm fees are
paid in full.
(b) In permitting free false alarm responses and in setting
false alarm fees, a municipality must administer any ordinance on a
fair and equitable basis as determined by the governing body.
(c) A municipality may not terminate an alarm permit for
nonrenewal without providing at least 30 days' notice.
(d) A municipality may revoke or refuse to renew the permit
of an alarm system that has had eight or more false alarms during
the preceding 12-month period.
Sec. 214.2055. MULTIUNIT HOUSING FACILITIES. (a) A
municipality may not refuse to issue an alarm system permit for a
residential location solely because the residential location is an
individual residential unit located in a multiunit housing
facility.
(b) In issuing an alarm system permit for an alarm installed
in an individual residential unit of a multiunit housing facility,
the municipality shall issue the permit to the person occupying the
individual residential unit.
(c) A municipality may impose a penalty under Section
214.207 for the signaling of a false alarm on the premises of a
multiunit housing facility for a facility other than an individual
residential unit only if the permit holder is notified of:
(1) the date of the signaling of the false alarm;
(2) the address of the multiunit housing facility
where the signaling of the false alarm occurred; and
(3) the identification of the individual facility, if
applicable, located on the multiunit housing facility premises
where the signaling of the false alarm occurred.
Sec. 214.206. ON-SITE INSPECTION REQUIRED. A municipality
may not consider a false alarm to have occurred unless a response is
made by an agency of the municipality within a reasonable time and
the agency determines from an inspection of the interior or
exterior of the premises that the alarm report by an alarm systems
monitor was false.
Sec. 214.207. PENALTIES FOR FALSE ALARMS. (a) A
municipality may impose a penalty on a person who uses an alarm
system in the municipality for the report of a false alarm by an
alarm systems monitor if at least three other false alarms have
occurred at that location during the preceding 12-month period.
The amount of the penalty for the report of a false alarm as
described by Section 214.206 may not exceed:
(1) $50, if the location has had more than three but
fewer than six other false alarms in the preceding 12-month period;
(2) $75, if the location has had more than five but
fewer than eight other false alarms in the preceding 12-month
period; or
(3) $100, if the location has had eight or more other
false alarms in the preceding 12-month period.
(b) A municipality may not impose a penalty authorized under
Subsection (a) if reasonable visual proof of possible criminal
activity recorded by an alarm systems monitor is provided to the
municipality before the inspection of the premises by an agency of
the municipality.
(c) A municipality that adopts an ordinance requiring a
person to obtain a permit from the municipality before the person
may use an alarm system in the municipality may impose a penalty,
not to exceed $250, for the report of a false alarm by an alarm
systems monitor on a person who has not obtained a permit for the
alarm system as required by the municipal ordinance.
(d) A municipality:
(1) may impose a penalty, not to exceed $250, for the
report of a false alarm on a person not licensed under Chapter 1702,
Occupations Code, that to any extent is reported or facilitated by
the unlicensed person; and
(2) may not impose a penalty for the report of a false
alarm on a person licensed under Chapter 1702, Occupations Code.
(e) A municipality may not impose or collect any fine, fee,
or penalty, other than collection fees, related to a false alarm or
alarm system unless the fine, fee, or penalty is defined in the
ordinance in accordance with this subchapter.
Sec. 214.208. PROCEDURES FOR REDUCING FALSE ALARMS. A
municipality may require an alarm systems monitor to attempt to
contact the occupant of the alarm system location twice before the
municipality responds to the alarm signal.
Sec. 214.209. EXCEPTION OF MUNICIPALITY FROM ALARM SYSTEM
RESPONSE. (a) The governing body of a municipality may not adopt
an ordinance providing that law enforcement personnel of the
municipality will not respond to any alarm signal indicated by an
alarm system in the municipality unless, before adopting the
ordinance, the governing body of the municipality:
(1) makes reasonable efforts to notify permit holders
of its intention to adopt the ordinance; and
(2) conducts a public hearing at which persons
interested in the response of the municipality to alarm systems are
given the opportunity to be heard.
(b) A municipality that adopts an ordinance under this
section may not impose or collect any fine, fee, or penalty
otherwise authorized by this subchapter.
(c) A municipality that adopts or proposes to adopt an
ordinance under this section may notify permit holders that a
permit holder may contract with a security services provider
licensed by the Texas Private Security Board under Chapter 1702,
Occupations Code, to respond to an alarm. The notice, if given,
must include the board's telephone number and Internet website
address.
Sec. 214.210. PRIORITY OR LEVEL OF RESPONSE NOT AFFECTED;
LIABILITY OF MUNICIPALITY FOR NONRESPONSE. (a) Nothing in this
subchapter:
(1) affects the priority or level of response provided
by a municipality to a permitted location; or
(2) waives the governmental immunity provided by law
for a municipality.
(b) A municipality that does not respond to an alarm system
signal is not liable for damages that may occur relating to the
cause of the alarm system signal.
Sec. 214.2105. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN ALARM SYSTEMS BY OWNER.
(a) A property owner or an agent of the property owner authorized
to make decisions regarding the use of the property may elect to
exclude the municipality from receiving an alarm signal by an alarm
system located on the owner's property. A municipality may adopt an
ordinance that specifies the requirements a property owner must
satisfy for an election to be made under this section.
(b) If an election is made under Subsection (a), the
municipality:
(1) may not impose a fee to obtain a permit to use the
alarm system;
(2) may impose a fee on the property owner, not to
exceed $250, for each law enforcement response to a signal from the
alarm system requested by an alarm systems monitor; and
(3) may not impose or collect any other fine, penalty,
or fee, other than a collection fee, related to the alarm system.
SECTION 4. With respect to a municipality subject to
Subchapter F-1, Chapter 214, Local Government Code, as added by
this Act, that on the effective date of this Act is a party to a
contract with a third party to provide alarm system services, the
changes in law made by this Act apply beginning after the date the
contract, including any renewals, is terminated or expires by the
contract's own terms. During the period a contract described by
this section is effective, the municipality described by this
section is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2162 was passed by the House on May 8,
2015, by the following vote: Yeas 120, Nays 19, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2162 on May 31, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 124, Nays 20,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2162 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 27, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays
4.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor