THE ATTORXEY GIZSEW,~.
OF TEXAS
November 5, 1990
Honorable John Whitmire Opinion No. JR-1238
Chairman
Intergovernmental Relations Re: Jurisdiction of tran-
Subcommittee on Urban Affairs sit officers in Harris
Texas State Senate County (RQ-1907)
P. 0. BOX 12068
Austin, Texas 78711
Dear Senator Whitmire:
You have requested our opinion about the effect of
recent amendments to article 1118x, V.T.C.S., which relate
to the jurisdiction of peace officers employed by the
Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County [hereafter
MTA] .
Senate Bill 1744 of the 71st Legislature amended
SeCtiOn 13(c) of article 1118x as follows:
(c) An authority may employ and commission
its own peace officers with power to make
arrests in all counties where the system is
located when necessary to prevent or abate the
commission of an offense against the laws of
the state or a political subdivision of the
state when the offense or threatened offense
occurs on or involves the system of the
authority, to make arrests in cases of an
offense involving injury or detriment to the
system, to enforce all traffic laws and
investigate traffic accidents which involve or
occur in the system, and to provide emergency
and public safety services to the system or
persons who use the system.
Any person, for an authority in which the
principal city has a population of more than
1.5 million according to the most recent
decennial census, commissioned under this
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Honorable John Whitmire - Page 2 (JM-1238)
section must be a certified peace officer who
meets the requirements of the Texas Commission
on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
Education, who shall file with the authority
the sworn oath required of peace officers, and
who is vested with all the powers, privileges,
and immunities of peace officers in all
counties where the system is located, provides
services, or is supported by a general sales
and use tax.
Acts 1989, 71st beg., ch. 671, 9 2, at 2216-17. The bill
also amended the definition of "system" in section 2(f) of
article 1118x to read as follows:
(f) 'System' means all real and personal
property of every kind and nature whatsoever,
.owned, rented, leased, under the control of or
operated or situated on property of, or held
at any time by an authority for mass transit
purposes, including (without limiting the
generality of the foregoing), land, interests
in land, buildings, structures, rights-of-way,
easements, franchises, rail lines, bus lines,
stations, platforms, terminals, rolling stock,
garages, shops, equipment and facilities
(including vehicle parking areas and facili-
ties), other facilities necessary or .conve-
nient for the beneficial use and access of
persons and vehicles to stations, terminals,
yards, cars, and buses, and control houses,
signals and land, facilities and equipment for
the protection and environmental enhancement
of all such facilities, and, for an authority
created before January 1, 1980, public parking
areas, garages, facilities, and lots, and, for
an authority in which the principal city has a
population of more than 1.5 million according
to the most recent decennial census, the area
within the boundaries wherein service is
provided or is supported by. a general sales
and use tax.
L 5 1 at 2216.
The amendments make clear that "system" now has a
different meaning for the Harris County MTA (the only
authority in which Vhe~ principal city has a population of
more than 1.5 millions) than it does for other transit
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Honorable John Whitmire - Page 3 (JR-1238)
authorities. In counties other than Harris, "system" is
limited to the actual property of the authority. By con-
trast, in Harris County, the %ystem" includes the entire
geographical area within the limits of the authority.
The bill analysis confirms this conclusion. It states,
in part:
Section & amends Subsection (f), Section 2,
Article 1118x, VTCS, by expanding the
definition of 'system' to include property
rented, leased, controlled by or situated on
the property of an authority for mass transit
purposes. ran
Fo
citv of more than 1.5 -ion.* \svstem I als
bcludes all nrooertv within the service area .
Bill Analysis, S.B. 1744, 71st beg. (1989) (emphasis added).
As a consequence of the broadened definition of %ys-
tern" in Harris County, section 13(c) expands the jurisdic-
tion of transit authority peace officers in Harris County to
the entire geographical area of the MTA. Section 13(c)
itself supports this view by requiring that~ an MTA transit
officer 'must be a certified peace officer." It further
provides that he is Wested with all the powers, privileges,
and immunities of peace officers" in every county in which
the MTA operates. It is reasonable to assume that the
legislature, in expanding the jurisdiction of l4T.A peace
officers, would have insisted that they meet the standards
of other certified peace officers.
Section 13(c) means that an RTA peace officer may make
arrests in any county in which the MTA operates as long as
the offense or threatened offense occurs within the MTA's
geographical boundaries. Furthermore, an MTA officer is
empowered to enforce traffic laws and investigate traffic
accidents that occur within its geographical boundaries, and
to provide emergency and public safety services within the
area. We conclude that the recent amendments have had the
effect of expanding the jurisdiction of peace officers
employed by the MTA to include the entire geographical area
within which the MTA operates.
SUMMARy
Article 1118x, V.T.C.S., expanded the
jurisdiction of peace officers employed by the
Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority
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,
Honorable John Whitmire - Page 4 (JM-1238) .
to include the entire.geographical area within
which the authority operates.
JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas
MARY KELLER
First Assistant Attorney General
Lou MCCREARY
Executive Assistant Attorney General
JUDGE ZOLLIE STRAKLEY
Special Assistant Attorney General
RENEA HICKS
Special Assistant Attorney General
RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee
Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General
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