Bill Text: TX HB3846 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relating to the authority of a reserve peace officer.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-03-05 - Filed [HB3846 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB3846-Introduced.html

---

89R14512 MZM-F
By: Louderback H.B. No. 3846

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of a reserve peace officer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 85.004(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A reserve deputy serves at the discretion of the sheriff
and may be called into service if the sheriff considers it necessary
to have additional officers to preserve the peace and enforce the
law. The sheriff may authorize a reserve deputy [who is a peace
officer as described by Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal
Procedure,] to carry a weapon or act as a peace officer at all
times, regardless of whether the reserve deputy is engaged in the
actual discharge of official duties, or may limit the authority of
the reserve deputy to carry a weapon or act as a peace officer to
only those times during which the reserve deputy is engaged in the
actual discharge of official duties. Notwithstanding Section
1702.322, Occupations Code, a reserve deputy may not perform an
action for which a license is required under Chapter 1702 of that
code unless the deputy is licensed in accordance with that chapter.
The sheriff may not authorize a reserve deputy to perform an
activity requiring the use of a police vehicle outside the county if
the activity is for private gain. The sheriff may authorize a
reserve deputy to conduct a police escort as defined by Section
546.002, Transportation Code, only if the escort begins or ends in
the county. A reserve deputy [who is not a peace officer as
described by Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, may act as
a peace officer only during the actual discharge of official
duties. A reserve deputy, regardless of whether the reserve deputy
is a peace officer as described by Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal
Procedure,] is not[:
[(1)] eligible for participation in any program
provided by the county that is normally considered a financial
benefit of full-time employment or for any pension fund created by
statute for the benefit of full-time paid peace officers[; or
[(2) exempt from Chapter 1702, Occupations Code].
SECTION 2. Section 86.012(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A reserve deputy constable serves at the discretion of
the constable and may be called into service at any time that the
constable considers it necessary to have additional officers to
preserve the peace and enforce the law. The constable may authorize
a reserve deputy constable [who is a peace officer as described by
Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure,] to carry a weapon or
act as a peace officer at all times, regardless of whether the
reserve deputy constable is engaged in the actual discharge of
official duties, or may limit the authority of the reserve deputy
constable to carry a weapon or act as a peace officer to only those
times during which the reserve deputy constable is engaged in the
actual discharge of official duties. Notwithstanding Section
1702.322, Occupations Code, a reserve deputy constable may not
perform an action for which a license is required under Chapter 1702
of that code unless the deputy is licensed in accordance with that
chapter. The constable may not authorize a reserve deputy
constable to perform an activity requiring the use of a police
vehicle outside the county if the activity is for private gain. The
constable may authorize a reserve deputy constable to conduct a
police escort as defined by Section 546.002, Transportation Code,
only if the escort begins or ends in the county. A reserve deputy
constable [who is not a peace officer as described by Article
2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, may act as a peace officer only
during the actual discharge of official duties. A reserve deputy
constable, regardless of whether the reserve deputy constable is a
peace officer as described by Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal
Procedure,] is not[:
[(1)] eligible for participation in any program
provided by the county that is normally considered a financial
benefit of full-time employment or for any pension fund created by
statute for the benefit of full-time paid peace officers[; or
[(2) exempt from Chapter 1702, Occupations Code].
SECTION 3. Sections 341.012(g) and (h), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(g) An appointment to the reserve force must be approved by
the governing body before the person appointed may carry a weapon or
otherwise act as a peace officer. [On approval of the appointment
of a member who is not a peace officer as described by Article
2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, the person appointed may carry
a weapon only when authorized to do so by the chief of police and
only when discharging official duties as a peace officer.]
(h) Reserve police officers may act only in a supplementary
capacity to the regular police force and may not assume the
full-time duties of regular police officers without complying with
the requirements for regular police officers. On approval of the
appointment of a member [who is a peace officer as described by
Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure], the chief of police
may authorize the person appointed to carry a weapon or act as a
peace officer at all times, regardless of whether the person is
engaged in the actual discharge of official duties, or may limit the
authority of the person to carry a weapon or act as a peace officer
to only those times during which the person is engaged in the actual
discharge of official duties. Notwithstanding Section 1702.322,
Occupations Code, a reserve police officer may not perform an
action for which a license is required under Chapter 1702 of that
code unless the officer is licensed in accordance with that
chapter. The chief of police may not authorize a reserve police
officer to perform an activity requiring the use of a police vehicle
outside a county in which the municipality is wholly or partly
located if the activity is for private gain. The chief of police
may authorize a reserve police officer to conduct a police escort as
defined by Section 546.002, Transportation Code, only if the escort
begins or ends in a county in which the municipality is wholly or
partly located. A reserve police officer[, regardless of whether
the reserve police officer is a peace officer as described by
Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure,] is not[:
[(1)] eligible for participation in any program
provided by the governing body that is normally considered a
financial benefit of full-time employment or for any pension fund
created by statute for the benefit of full-time paid peace
officers[; or
[(2) exempt from Chapter 1702, Occupations Code].
SECTION 4. Section 1702.322, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1702.322. LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL. This chapter
does not apply to:
(1) a person who has full-time employment as a peace
officer and who receives compensation for private employment on an
individual or an independent contractor basis as a patrolman,
guard, extra job coordinator, or watchman if the officer:
(A) is employed in an employee-employer
relationship or employed on an individual contractual basis:
(i) directly by the recipient of the
services; or
(ii) by a company licensed under this
chapter;
(B) is not in the employ of another peace
officer;
(C) is not a reserve peace officer; and
(D) works as a peace officer on the average of at
least 32 hours a week, is compensated by the state or a political
subdivision of the state at least at the minimum wage, and is
entitled to all employee benefits offered to a peace officer by the
state or political subdivision;
(2) [a reserve peace officer while the reserve officer
is performing guard, patrolman, or watchman duties for a county and
is being compensated solely by that county;
[(3)] a peace officer acting in an official capacity
in responding to a burglar alarm or detection device; or
(3) [(4)] a person engaged in the business of
electronic monitoring of an individual as a condition of that
individual's community supervision, parole, mandatory supervision,
or release on bail, if the person does not perform any other service
that requires a license under this chapter.
SECTION 5. Sections 60.0775(f), (g), (h), and (i), Water
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(f) A reserve force member [who is not a peace officer as
described by Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, may act as
a peace officer only during the discharge of official duties. A
reserve force member who is a peace officer under that article] must
hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 1701,
Occupations Code.
(g) The commission must approve an appointment to the
reserve force before the person appointed may carry a weapon or
otherwise act as a peace officer. [On approval of the appointment
of a person who is not a peace officer as described by Article
2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, the person appointed may carry
a weapon only when authorized to do so by the chief of police and
only when discharging official duties as a peace officer.] On
approval of the appointment of a person [who is a peace officer as
described by Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure], the chief
of police may:
(1) authorize the person appointed to carry a weapon
or act as a peace officer at all times, regardless of whether the
person is engaged in the discharge of official duties; or
(2) limit the person's authority to carry a weapon or
act as a peace officer to only those times during which the person
is engaged in the discharge of official duties.
(h) Reserve police officers may act only to supplement the
district's regular police force and may not assume the full-time
duties of regular police officers without complying with the
requirements for regular police officers. Notwithstanding Section
1702.322, Occupations Code, a reserve police officer may not
perform an action for which a license is required under Chapter 1702
of that code unless the officer is licensed in accordance with that
chapter. The chief of police may not authorize a reserve police
officer to perform an activity requiring the use of a police vehicle
outside a county in which the district is wholly or partly located
if the activity is for private gain. The chief of police may
authorize a reserve police officer to conduct a police escort as
defined by Section 546.002, Transportation Code, only if the escort
begins or ends in a county in which the district is wholly or partly
located.
(i) A reserve police officer[, regardless of whether the
reserve police officer is a peace officer as described by Article
2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure,] is not[:
[(1)] eligible for participation in:
(1) [(A)] a program provided by the commission that is
normally considered a financial benefit of full-time employment; or
(2) [(B)] a pension fund created by statute for the
benefit of full-time paid peace officers[; or
[(2) exempt from Chapter 1702, Occupations Code].
SECTION 6. Section 341.012(f), Local Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.