By: Simmons (Senate Sponsor - Campbell)	H.B. No. 2162
	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2015;
	May 13, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
	Intergovernmental Relations; May 25, 2015, reported adversely,
	with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5,
	Nays 0; May 25, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2162	By:  Campbell

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to municipal regulation of the use of alarm systems;
	authorizing a municipal fee.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 214.191, Local Government Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 214.191.  DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
	(1)  "Alarm system" means a device or system that
	transmits a signal intended to summon police of a municipality in
	response to a burglary. The term includes an alarm that emits an
	audible signal on the exterior of a structure. The term does not
	include an alarm installed on a vehicle, unless the vehicle is used
	for a habitation at a permanent site, or an alarm designed to alert
	only the inhabitants within the premises.
	(2)  "Alarm systems monitor" means a person who acts as
	an alarm systems company under Section 1702.105, Occupations Code.
	(3)  "False alarm" means a notification of possible
	criminal activity reported to law enforcement:
	(A)  that is based solely on electronic
	information remotely received by an alarm systems monitor;
	(B)  that is uncorroborated by eyewitness, video,
	or photographic evidence that an emergency exists; and
	(C)  concerning which an agency of the
	municipality has verified that no emergency exists after an on-site
	inspection of the location from which the notification originated.
	(4) [(2)]  "Permit" means a certificate, license,
	permit, or other form of permission that authorizes a person to
	engage in an action.
	SECTION 2.  Section 214.194(b), Local Government Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(b)  A municipal permit fee imposed under this section for an
	alarm system may not exceed the rate of:
	(1)  $50 a year for a residential location; and
	(2)  $250 a year for other alarm system locations.
	SECTION 3.  The heading to Section 214.195, Local Government
	Code, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 214.195.  NONRENEWAL OR REVOCATION OF PERMIT; [AND]
	TERMINATION OF MUNICIPAL RESPONSE; DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED.
	SECTION 4.  Section 214.195, Local Government Code, is
	amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to
	read as follows:
	(a)  Except as provided in Subsections [Subsection] (d) and
	(e), a municipality may not terminate its law enforcement response
	to a residential permit holder because of excess false alarms if the
	false alarm fees are paid in full.
	(e)  A municipality may refuse to respond to a location if
	the location has had more than eight other false alarms during the
	preceding 12-month period.
	SECTION 5.  Section 214.196, Local Government Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 214.196.  ON-SITE INSPECTION REQUIRED. A municipality
	may not consider a false alarm to have occurred unless a response is
	made by an agency of the municipality within a reasonable time [30
	minutes of the alarm notification] and the agency determines from
	an inspection of the interior or exterior of the premises that the
	alarm report by an alarm systems monitor was false.
	SECTION 6.  Section 214.197, Local Government Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 214.197.  PENALTIES FOR FALSE ALARMS. (a) A
	municipality may impose a penalty on a person who uses an alarm
	system in the municipality for the report [signaling] of a false
	alarm by an alarm systems monitor [a burglar alarm system] if at
	least three other false alarms have occurred at that location
	during the preceding 12-month period.  The amount of the penalty for
	the report [signaling] of a false alarm as described by Section
	214.196 may not exceed:
	(1)  $50, if the location has had more than three but
	fewer than six other false alarms in the preceding 12-month period;
	(2)  $75, if the location has had more than five but
	fewer than eight other false alarms in the preceding 12-month
	period; or
	(3)  $100, if the location has had eight or more other
	false alarms in the preceding 12-month period.
	(b)  A municipality may not impose a penalty authorized under
	Subsection (a) if reasonable visual proof of possible criminal
	activity recorded by an alarm systems monitor is provided to the
	municipality before the inspection of the premises by an agency of
	the municipality.
	(c)  A municipality that adopts an ordinance requiring a
	person to obtain a permit from the municipality before the person
	may use an alarm system in the municipality may impose a penalty,
	not to exceed $250, for the report of a false alarm by an alarm
	systems monitor on a person who has not obtained a permit for the
	alarm system as required by the municipal ordinance.
	(d)  A municipality:
	(1)  may impose a penalty, not to exceed $250, for the
	report of a false alarm on a person not licensed under Chapter 1702,
	Occupations Code, that to any extent is reported or facilitated by
	the unlicensed person; and
	(2)  may not impose a penalty for the report of a false
	alarm on a person licensed under Chapter 1702, Occupations Code.
	(e)  A municipality may not impose or collect any fine, fee,
	or penalty related to a false alarm or alarm system unless the fine,
	fee, or penalty is defined in the ordinance in accordance with this
	subchapter.
	SECTION 7.  The heading to Section 214.198, Local Government
	Code, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 214.198.  PROCEDURES FOR REDUCING FALSE ALARMS
	[VERIFICATION].
	SECTION 8.  Section 214.200(b), Local Government Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(b)  A municipality that does not respond to an alarm system
	signal is not liable for damages that may occur relating to the
	cause of the alarm system signal.
	SECTION 9.  Subchapter F, Chapter 214, Local Government
	Code, is amended by adding Section 214.201 to read as follows:
	Sec. 214.201.  EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN ALARM SYSTEMS BY OWNER.
	(a) A property owner or an agent of the property owner authorized
	to make decisions regarding the use of the property may elect to
	exclude the municipality from receiving an alarm signal by an alarm
	system located on the owner's property.  A municipality may adopt an
	ordinance that specifies the requirements a property owner must
	satisfy for an election to be made under this section.
	(b)  If an election is made under Subsection (a), the
	municipality:
	(1)  may not impose a fee to obtain a permit to use the
	alarm system;
	(2)  may impose a fee on the property owner, not to
	exceed $250, for each law enforcement response to a signal from the
	alarm system requested by an alarm systems monitor; and
	(3)  may not impose or collect any other fine, penalty,
	or fee, other than a collection fee, related to the alarm system.
	SECTION 10.  With respect to a municipality that on the
	effective date of this Act is a party to a contract with a third
	party to provide alarm system services, the changes in law made by
	this Act apply beginning after the date the contract, including any
	renewals, is terminated or expires by the contract's own terms.
	During the period a contract described by this section is
	effective, the municipality is governed by the law in effect
	immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former
	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 11.  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, 2015.
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