By: Birdwell	S.B. No. 741
	(In the Senate - Filed February 23, 2021; March 11, 2021,
	read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
	April 23, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 6,
	Nays 4; April 23, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the carrying or storage of a handgun by a school
	marshal.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Sections 37.0811(c), (d), and (e), Education
	Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(c)  A school marshal appointed by the board of trustees of a
	school district or the governing body of an open-enrollment charter
	school may carry a concealed handgun or possess a handgun on the
	physical premises of a school, but only:
	(1)  in the manner provided by written regulations
	adopted by the board of trustees or the governing body; and
	(2)  at a specific school as specified by the board of
	trustees or governing body, as applicable.
	(d)  Any written regulations adopted for purposes of
	Subsection (c) must provide that a school marshal may carry a
	concealed handgun on the school marshal's person or [as described
	by Subsection (c), 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 the [a] handgun
	on the physical premises of a school in a locked and secured safe or
	other locked and secured location [within the marshal's immediate
	reach when conducting the marshal's primary duty]. The written
	regulations must also require that a handgun carried or possessed
	by [or within access of] a school marshal may be loaded only with
	frangible duty ammunition approved for that purpose by the Texas
	Commission on Law Enforcement.
	(e)  A school marshal may use [access] a handgun the school
	marshal is authorized to carry or possess under this section only
	under circumstances that would justify the use of deadly force
	under Section 9.32 or 9.33, Penal Code.
	SECTION 2.  Sections 37.0813(c), (d), and (e), Education
	Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(c)  A school marshal appointed by the governing body of a
	private school may carry a concealed handgun or possess a handgun on
	the physical premises of a school, but only in the manner provided
	by written regulations adopted by the governing body.
	(d)  Any written regulations adopted for purposes of
	Subsection (c) must provide that a school marshal may carry a
	concealed handgun on the school marshal's person or [as described
	by Subsection (c), except that if the primary duty of the school
	marshal involves regular, direct contact with students in a
	classroom setting, the marshal may not carry a concealed handgun
	but may] possess the [a] handgun on the physical premises of a
	school in a locked and secured safe or other locked and secured
	location [within the marshal's immediate reach when conducting the
	marshal's primary duty]. The written regulations must also require
	that a handgun carried or possessed by [or within access of] a
	school marshal may be loaded only with frangible duty ammunition
	approved for that purpose by the Texas Commission on Law
	Enforcement.
	(e)  A school marshal may use [access] a handgun the school
	marshal is authorized to carry or possess under this section only
	under circumstances that would justify the use of deadly force
	under Section 9.32 or 9.33, Penal Code.
	SECTION 3.  Sections 51.220(d), (e), and (f), Education
	Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(d)  A school marshal appointed by the governing board of a
	public junior college may carry a concealed handgun 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 on the school marshal's person or [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 the [a] handgun
	on the physical premises of a public junior college campus in a
	locked and secured safe or other locked and secured location
	[within the marshal's immediate reach when conducting the marshal's
	primary duty]. The written regulations must also require that a
	handgun carried or possessed by [or within access of] a school
	marshal may be loaded only with frangible duty ammunition approved
	for that purpose by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
	(f)  A school marshal may use [access] a handgun the school
	marshal is authorized to carry or possess under this section only
	under circumstances that would justify the use of deadly force
	under Section 9.32 or 9.33, Penal Code.
	SECTION 4.  This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
	school year.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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