Bill Text: TX HB77 | 2023 | 88th Legislature 4th Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of the Texas border enforcement coordination program; making appropriations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-11-08 - Filed [HB77 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB77-Introduced.html
By: Lopez of Cameron | H.B. No. 77 |
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relating to the establishment of the Texas border enforcement | ||
coordination program; making appropriations. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 421, Government Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subchapter G to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER G. TEXAS BORDER ENFORCEMENT COORDINATION PROGRAM | ||
Sec. 421.101. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: | ||
(1) "Border county" means a county that: | ||
(A) borders the United Mexican States; or | ||
(B) is adjacent to a county that borders the | ||
United Mexican States. | ||
(2) "Texas Anti-Gang Center" means a Texas Anti-Gang | ||
Center that is wholly or partly funded through the office of the | ||
governor. | ||
Sec. 421.102. BORDER COUNTY SHERIFFS' LIAISON AND TEXAS | ||
ANTI-GANG CENTERS' LIAISON. (a) The governor shall appoint the | ||
sheriff of a border county to serve as the border county sheriffs' | ||
liaison. | ||
(b) The governor shall appoint the executive head of a Texas | ||
Anti-Gang Center to serve as the Texas Anti-Gang Centers' liaison. | ||
(c) A liaison appointed under Subsection (a) or (b) serves a | ||
two-year term. | ||
(d) A liaison appointed under Subsection (a) or (b) may | ||
designate another individual to act as the liaison. | ||
(e) Each liaison appointed under this section shall work | ||
with each other and with the following individual and entities | ||
regarding interagency coordination, communication, and cooperation | ||
on border enforcement-related matters and activities: | ||
(1) the Special Advisor to the Governor on Border | ||
Matters; | ||
(2) the Texas Department of Public Safety; | ||
(3) the Texas Military Department; and | ||
(4) the Texas Division of Emergency Management. | ||
Sec. 421.103. INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM. Each | ||
sheriff's department for a border county and each Texas Anti-Gang | ||
Center shall, with money appropriated by the state, acquire the | ||
technology necessary to implement, and shall implement, a | ||
multimedia interoperable communication system that enables | ||
real-time communication and sharing of information between: | ||
(1) each sheriff's department for a border county; | ||
(2) each Texas Anti-Gang Center; | ||
(3) the Texas Department of Public Safety; | ||
(4) the Texas Military Department; and | ||
(5) the Texas Division of Emergency Management. | ||
Sec. 421.104. TEXAS BORDER ENFORCEMENT VOLUNTEER PROGRAM. | ||
(a) This section applies only to a sheriff's department for a | ||
county that borders the United Mexican States. | ||
(b) The sheriff of each county to which this section applies | ||
shall establish and supervise in the county the Texas border | ||
enforcement volunteer program. | ||
(c) The sheriff shall appoint volunteers for the program to: | ||
(1) assist the sheriff's department in monitoring the | ||
portion of the Texas-Mexico border adjacent to the county; | ||
(2) identify the unlawful entry of individuals or | ||
objects at a location other than a port of entry; and | ||
(3) communicate the location of the unlawful entry and | ||
other information necessary to assist the sheriff's department in | ||
arresting or detaining the individual or interdicting the object. | ||
(d) The sheriff may not appoint an individual to be a | ||
volunteer unless the individual: | ||
(1) has been a resident of the county for at least the | ||
four years preceding the date of appointment; | ||
(2) has not been convicted of a felony; | ||
(3) is at least 21 years of age; and | ||
(4) is determined by the sheriff to be an individual of | ||
upstanding moral character in the county. | ||
(e) A volunteer may not arrest or detain an individual. | ||
(f) A volunteer shall carry and display identification that | ||
states the volunteer's name and that the volunteer has been | ||
appointed as a volunteer for the program. | ||
(g) A volunteer is not entitled to compensation for any act | ||
performed in the course of the volunteer's duties under the | ||
program. | ||
(h) A sheriff's department may provide a volunteer with | ||
equipment, including equipment that enables the volunteer to share | ||
information through the interoperable communication system | ||
implemented under Section 421.103. | ||
SECTION 2. On the effective date of this Act: | ||
(1) the amount of $19,500,000 is appropriated from the | ||
general revenue fund to the comptroller of public accounts for the | ||
purpose of immediately distributing $500,000 to each sheriff's | ||
department for a border county as defined by Section 421.101, | ||
Government Code, as added by this Act, and each Texas Anti-Gang | ||
Center, as defined by that section, for the purposes described by | ||
Section 421.103, Government Code, as added by this Act; and | ||
(2) the amount of $7,000,000 is appropriated from the | ||
general revenue fund to the comptroller of public accounts for the | ||
purpose of immediately distributing $500,000 to each sheriff's | ||
department for a county to which Section 421.104, Government Code, | ||
as added by this Act, applies for the purposes described by that | ||
section. | ||
SECTION 3. Not later than March 1, 2024, the governor shall | ||
appoint a border county sheriffs' liaison and a Texas Anti-Gang | ||
Centers' liaison as required by Section 421.102, Government Code, | ||
as added by this Act, to begin terms of office that begin on March 1, | ||
2024. | ||
SECTION 4. Not later than August 1, 2024, a sheriff's | ||
department for a border county as defined by Section 421.101, | ||
Government Code, as added by this Act, shall implement the | ||
interoperable communication system as required by Section 421.103, | ||
Government Code, as added by this Act. | ||
SECTION 5. Not later than August 1, 2024, the sheriff for a | ||
county to which Section 421.104, Government Code, as added by this | ||
Act, applies shall establish the Texas border enforcement volunteer | ||
program in that county as required by that section. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the | ||
last day of the legislative session. |