Bill Text: TX HB3888 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to peace officers commissioned by the Health and Human Services Commission's office of inspector general.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-20 - Referred to Homeland Security & Public Safety [HB3888 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB3888-Introduced.html
88R12610 JG-F | ||
By: Stucky | H.B. No. 3888 |
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relating to peace officers commissioned by the Health and Human | ||
Services Commission's office of inspector general. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Art. 2.12. WHO ARE PEACE OFFICERS. The following are peace | ||
officers: | ||
(1) sheriffs, their deputies, and those reserve | ||
deputies who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under | ||
Chapter 1701, Occupations Code; | ||
(2) constables, deputy constables, and those reserve | ||
deputy constables who hold a permanent peace officer license issued | ||
under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code; | ||
(3) marshals or police officers of an incorporated | ||
city, town, or village, and those reserve municipal police officers | ||
who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter | ||
1701, Occupations Code; | ||
(4) rangers, officers, and members of the reserve | ||
officer corps commissioned by the Public Safety Commission and the | ||
Director of the Department of Public Safety; | ||
(5) investigators of the district attorneys', criminal | ||
district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices; | ||
(6) law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic | ||
Beverage Commission; | ||
(7) each member of an arson investigating unit | ||
commissioned by a city, a county, or the state; | ||
(8) officers commissioned under Section 37.081, | ||
Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code; | ||
(9) officers commissioned by the General Services | ||
Commission; | ||
(10) law enforcement officers commissioned by the | ||
Parks and Wildlife Commission; | ||
(11) officers commissioned under Chapter 23, | ||
Transportation Code; | ||
(12) municipal park and recreational patrolmen and | ||
security officers; | ||
(13) security officers and investigators commissioned | ||
as peace officers by the comptroller; | ||
(14) officers commissioned by a water control and | ||
improvement district under Section 49.216, Water Code; | ||
(15) officers commissioned by a board of trustees | ||
under Chapter 54, Transportation Code; | ||
(16) investigators commissioned by the Texas Medical | ||
Board; | ||
(17) officers commissioned by: | ||
(A) the board of managers of the Dallas County | ||
Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital District, the Bexar | ||
County Hospital District, or the El Paso County Hospital District | ||
under Section 281.057, Health and Safety Code; | ||
(B) the board of directors of the Ector County | ||
Hospital District under Section 1024.117, Special District Local | ||
Laws Code; | ||
(C) the board of directors of the Midland County | ||
Hospital District of Midland County, Texas, under Section 1061.121, | ||
Special District Local Laws Code; and | ||
(D) the board of hospital managers of the Lubbock | ||
County Hospital District of Lubbock County, Texas, under Section | ||
1053.113, Special District Local Laws Code; | ||
(18) county park rangers commissioned under | ||
Subchapter E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code; | ||
(19) investigators employed by the Texas Racing | ||
Commission; | ||
(20) officers commissioned under Chapter 554, | ||
Occupations Code; | ||
(21) officers commissioned by the governing body of a | ||
metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108, | ||
Transportation Code, or by a regional transportation authority | ||
under Section 452.110, Transportation Code; | ||
(22) investigators commissioned by the attorney | ||
general under Section 402.009, Government Code; | ||
(23) security officers and investigators commissioned | ||
as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code; | ||
(24) officers appointed by an appellate court under | ||
Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code; | ||
(25) officers commissioned by the state fire marshal | ||
under Chapter 417, Government Code; | ||
(26) an investigator commissioned by the commissioner | ||
of insurance under Section 701.104, Insurance Code; | ||
(27) apprehension specialists and inspectors general | ||
commissioned by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department as officers | ||
under Sections 242.102 and 243.052, Human Resources Code; | ||
(28) officers appointed by the inspector general of | ||
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under Section 493.019, | ||
Government Code; | ||
(29) investigators commissioned by the Texas | ||
Commission on Law Enforcement under Section 1701.160, Occupations | ||
Code; | ||
(30) commission investigators commissioned by the | ||
Texas Private Security Board under Section 1702.061, Occupations | ||
Code; | ||
(31) the fire marshal and any officers, inspectors, or | ||
investigators commissioned by an emergency services district under | ||
Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code; | ||
(32) officers commissioned by the State Board of | ||
Dental Examiners under Section 254.013, Occupations Code, subject | ||
to the limitations imposed by that section; | ||
(33) investigators commissioned by the Texas Juvenile | ||
Justice Department as officers under Section 221.011, Human | ||
Resources Code; [ |
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(34) the fire marshal and any related officers, | ||
inspectors, or investigators commissioned by a county under | ||
Subchapter B, Chapter 352, Local Government Code; and | ||
(35) commissioned officers employed by the Health and | ||
Human Services Commission's office of inspector general. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 531.1022, Government Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding Subsections (b-1) | ||
and (e) to read as follows: | ||
(a) The commission's office of inspector general shall | ||
employ and commission [ |
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the office's duties [ |
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(1) assisting a state or local law enforcement agency | ||
in the investigation of an alleged criminal offense involving: | ||
(A) a state hospital patient; or | ||
(B) a state supported living center client or | ||
resident; and | ||
(2) the investigation of fraud, waste, and abuse | ||
under: | ||
(A) [ |
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(B) the supplemental nutrition assistance | ||
program under Chapter 33, Human Resources Code. | ||
(b) Peace officers employed under this section to | ||
investigate fraud, waste, and abuse under Medicaid: | ||
(1) may not exceed five in number at any given time; | ||
and | ||
(2) are administratively attached to the Department of | ||
Public Safety. | ||
(b-1) The commission shall provide administrative support | ||
to the Department of Public Safety as [ |
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support peace officer assignments [ |
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(d) The commission's office of inspector general [ |
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prior approval from the office of the attorney general before a | ||
peace officer employed under Subsection (b) carries [ |
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any duties requiring peace officer status. | ||
(e) The commission's office of inspector general shall | ||
ensure a peace officer employed under this section is compensated | ||
according to Schedule C of the position classification salary | ||
schedule prescribed by the General Appropriations Act. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 659.301(5), Government Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(5) "State employee" means an individual who: | ||
(A) is a commissioned law enforcement officer of | ||
the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Facilities Commission, | ||
the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the Texas Department of | ||
Criminal Justice, the attorney general, [ |
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unit of the Texas Department of Insurance, or the Health and Human | ||
Services Commission's office of inspector general; | ||
(B) is a commissioned security officer of the | ||
comptroller; | ||
(C) is a law enforcement officer commissioned by | ||
the Parks and Wildlife Commission; | ||
(D) is a commissioned peace officer of an | ||
institution of higher education; | ||
(E) is an employee or official of the Board of | ||
Pardons and Paroles or the parole division of the Texas Department | ||
of Criminal Justice if the employee or official has routine direct | ||
contact with inmates of any penal or correctional institution or | ||
with administratively released prisoners subject to the board's | ||
jurisdiction; | ||
(F) has been certified to the Employees | ||
Retirement System of Texas under Section 815.505 as having begun | ||
employment as a law enforcement officer or custodial officer, | ||
unless the individual has been certified to the system as having | ||
ceased employment as a law enforcement officer or custodial | ||
officer; | ||
(G) before May 29, 1987, received hazardous duty | ||
pay based on the terms of any state law if the individual holds a | ||
position designated under that law as eligible for the pay; or | ||
(H) is a security officer employed by the Texas | ||
Military Department. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 661.918(a), Government Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(a) This section applies to a peace officer under Article | ||
2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, who is commissioned as a law | ||
enforcement officer or agent, including a ranger, by: | ||
(1) the Public Safety Commission and the director of | ||
the Department of Public Safety; | ||
(2) the Parks and Wildlife Commission; | ||
(3) the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission; | ||
(4) the attorney general; [ |
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(5) the insurance fraud unit of the Texas Department | ||
of Insurance; or | ||
(6) the Health and Human Services Commission's office | ||
of inspector general. | ||
SECTION 5. (a) The classification officer in the office of | ||
the state auditor shall classify the position of commissioned peace | ||
officer employed as an investigator by the Health and Human | ||
Services Commission's office of inspector general as a Schedule C | ||
position under the position classification plan maintained under | ||
Chapter 654, Government Code. | ||
(b) The change made by the classification officer as | ||
required by this section applies beginning with the state fiscal | ||
biennium beginning September 1, 2023. | ||
(c) This section expires September 1, 2025. | ||
SECTION 6. Section 661.918(a), Government Code, as amended | ||
by this Act, applies only to an injury that occurs on or after the | ||
effective date of this Act. | ||
SECTION 7. If before implementing any provision of this Act | ||
a state agency determines that any other waiver or authorization | ||
from a federal agency is necessary for implementation of that | ||
provision, the agency affected by the provision shall request the | ||
waiver or authorization and may delay implementing that provision | ||
until the waiver or authorization is granted. | ||
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |