Sec. 1701.260. TRAINING FOR HOLDERS OF LICENSE TO CARRY A 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, open-enrollment charter school, private school, or public junior college who holds a license to carry a 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.

(a-1) In this section, "private school" has the meaning assigned by Article 2.127, Code of Criminal Procedure.

(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 a 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 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 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, open-enrollment charter school, private school, or public junior college;

(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, open-enrollment charter school, private school, or public junior college located within a municipality;

(4) the sheriff of the county if the person is employed at a campus of a school district, open-enrollment charter school, private school, or public junior college that is not located within a municipality; and

(5) the chief administrator of any peace officer commissioned under Section 37.081 or 51.203, Education Code, if the person is employed at a school district or public junior college that has commissioned a peace officer under either section.

(k) The commission shall immediately report the expiration or revocation of a school marshal license to the persons listed in Subsection (j).

(l) All information 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.

Added by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 655 (H.B. 1009), Sec. 5, eff. June 14, 2013.

Amended by:

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 437 (H.B. 910), Sec. 35, eff. January 1, 2016.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 437 (H.B. 910), Sec. 36, eff. January 1, 2016.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1144 (S.B. 386), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2015.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1176 (S.B. 996), Sec. 2, eff. June 19, 2015.

Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 988 (H.B. 867), Sec. 7, eff. June 15, 2017.