By: Villalba, Bonnen of Galveston, Fletcher, H.B. No. 1009
      Menendez, Keffer, et al.
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the creation of a new category of law enforcement
  officer who shall be designated a school marshal, the training and
  appointment of certain employees of a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school as school marshals, and the rights,
  restrictions, limitations, and responsibilities of school
  marshals; authorizing the imposition of a fee.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  This Act shall be known as The Protection of
  Texas Children Act.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Article 2.127 to read as follows:
         Art. 2.127.  SCHOOL MARSHALS.  (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, 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.
         (b)  A school marshal may not issue a traffic citation for a
  violation of Chapter 521, Transportation Code, or Subtitle C, Title
  7, Transportation Code.
         (c)  A school marshal is not entitled to state benefits
  normally provided by the state to a peace officer.
         (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.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 37.0811 to read as follows:
         Sec. 37.0811.  SCHOOL MARSHALS.  (a)  The board of trustees
  of a school district or the governing body of an open-enrollment
  charter school may appoint not more than one school marshal per 400
  students in average daily attendance per campus.
         (b)  The board of trustees of a school district or the
  governing body of an open-enrollment charter school may select for
  appointment as a school marshal under this section an applicant who
  is an employee of the school district or open-enrollment charter
  school and certified as eligible for appointment under Section
  1701.260, Occupations Code. The board of trustees or governing body
  may, but shall not be required to, reimburse the amount paid by the
  applicant to participate in the training program under that
  section.
         (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 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 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 a handgun on the physical premises of a
  school 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.
         (e)  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.
         (f)  A school district or charter school 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
  district or charter school; or
               (4)  notice from the board of trustees of the district
  or the governing body of the charter school that the employee's
  services as school marshal are no longer required.
         (g)  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.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 411.1871 to read as follows:
         Sec. 411.1871.  NOTICE OF SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF
  CERTAIN LICENSES.  The department shall notify the Texas Commission
  on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education if the
  department takes any action against the license of a person
  identified by the commission as a person certified under Section
  1701.260, Occupations Code, including suspension or revocation.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter F, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
  amended by adding Section 1701.260 to read as follows:
         Sec. 1701.260.  TRAINING FOR HOLDERS OF LICENSE TO CARRY
  CONCEALED HANDGUN; CERTIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR APPOINTMENT AS
  SCHOOL MARSHAL.  (a)  The commission shall establish and maintain a
  training program open to any employee of a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school 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.
         (b)  The commission shall collect from each person who
  participates in the training program identifying information that
  includes the person's name, the person's date of birth, the license
  number of the license issued to the person under Subchapter H,
  Chapter 411, Government Code, and the address of the person's place
  of employment.
         (c)  The training program shall include 80 hours of
  instruction designed to:
               (1)  emphasize strategies for preventing school
  shootings and for securing the safety of potential victims of
  school shootings;
               (2)  educate a trainee about legal issues relating to
  the duties of peace officers and the use of force or deadly force in
  the protection of others;
               (3)  introduce the trainee to effective law enforcement
  strategies and techniques;
               (4)  improve the trainee's proficiency with a handgun;
  and
               (5)  enable the trainee to respond to an emergency
  situation requiring deadly force, such as a situation involving an
  active shooter.
         (d)  The commission, in consultation with psychologists,
  shall devise and administer to each trainee a psychological
  examination to determine whether the trainee is psychologically fit
  to carry out the duties of a school marshal in an emergency shooting
  or situation involving an active shooter.  The commission may
  license a person under this section only if the results of the
  examination indicate that the trainee is psychologically fit to
  carry out those duties.
         (e)  The commission shall charge each trainee a reasonable
  fee to cover the cost to the commission of conducting the program.  
  The commission shall charge each person seeking renewal of school
  marshal license a reasonable fee to cover the cost to the commission
  of renewing the person's license.
         (f)  The commission shall license a person who is eligible
  for appointment as a school marshal who:
               (1)  completes training under this section to the
  satisfaction of the commission staff; and
               (2)  is psychologically fit to carry out the duties of a
  school marshal as indicated by the results of the psychological
  examination administered under this section.
         (g)  A person's license under this section expires on the
  first birthday of the person occurring after the second anniversary
  of the date the commission licenses the person. A renewed school
  marshal license expires on the person's birth date, two years after
  the expiration of the previous license.
         (h)  A person may renew the school marshal license under this
  section by:
               (1)  successfully completing a renewal course designed
  and administered by the commission, which such license renewal
  training will not exceed 16 hours combined of classroom and
  simulation training;
               (2)  demonstrating appropriate knowledge on an
  examination designed and administered by the commission;
               (3)  demonstrating handgun proficiency to the
  satisfaction of the commission staff; and
               (4)  demonstrating psychological fitness on the
  examination described in Subsection (d).
         (i)  The commission shall revoke a person's school marshal
  license if the commission is notified by the Department of Public
  Safety that the person's license to carry a concealed handgun
  issued under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, has been
  suspended or revoked.  A person whose school marshal license is
  revoked may obtain recertification by:
               (1)  furnishing proof to the commission that the
  person's concealed handgun license has been reinstated; and
               (2)  completing the initial training under Subsection
  (c) to the satisfaction of the commission staff, paying the fee for
  the training, and demonstrating psychological fitness on the
  psychological examination described in Subsection (d).
         (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;
               (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
  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
  that is not located within a municipality; and
               (5)  the chief administrator of any peace officer
  commissioned under Section 37.081, Education Code, if the person is
  employed at a school district that has commissioned a peace officer
  under that section.
         (k)  The commission shall immediately report the expiration
  or revocation of a school marshal license to the persons listed in
  Subsection (j).
         (l)  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 6.  Chapter 1701.001, Occupations Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         Sec. 1701.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
               (1)  "Commission" means the Commission on Law
  Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.
               (2)  "County jailer" means a person employed as a
  county jail guard under Section 85.005, Local Government Code.
               (3)  "Officer" means a peace officer or reserve law
  enforcement officer.
               (4)  "Peace officer" means a person elected, employed,
  or appointed as a peace officer under Article 2.12, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, or other law.
               (5)  "Public security officer" means a person employed
  or appointed as an armed security officer by this state or a
  political subdivision of this state. The term does not include a
  security officer employed by a private security company that
  contracts with this state or a political subdivision of this state
  to provide security services for the entity.
               (6)  "Reserve law enforcement officer" means a person
  designated as a reserve law enforcement officer under Section
  85.004, 86.012, or 341.012, Local Government Code, or Section
  60.0775, Water Code.
               (7)  "Telecommunicator" means a person acknowledged by
  the commission and employed by or serving a law enforcement agency
  that performs law enforcement services on a 24-hour basis who
  receives, processes, and transmits public safety information and
  criminal justice data for the agency by using a base radio station
  on a public safety frequency regulated by the Federal
  Communications Commission or by another method of communication.
               (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 under Article
  2.127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and in accordance with and
  having the rights provided by Section 37.0811 of the Education
  Code.
         SECTION 7.  Subchapter G, Chapter 1701, Section 301 of the
  Occupations Code, is amended to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER G. LICENSE REQUIREMENTS; DISQUALIFICATIONS AND
  EXEMPTIONS
         Sec. 1701.301.  LICENSE REQUIRED. Except as provided by
  Sections 1701.310 and 1701.311, a person may not appoint a person to
  serve as an officer, county jailer, school marshal, or public
  security officer unless the person appointed holds an appropriate
  license issued by the commission.
         SECTION 8.  The Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
  Standards and Education shall establish a school marshal training
  program as required by Section 1701.260, Occupations Code, as added
  by this Act, not later than January 1, 2014.
         SECTION 9.  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, 2013.