Bill Text: TX HB12 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Engrossed


Bill Title: Relating to the enforcement of state and federal laws governing immigration by certain governmental entities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 43-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-24 - Record vote [HB12 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB12-Engrossed.html
 
 
  By: Solomons, Bohac, Harless, et al. H.B. No. 12
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the enforcement of state and federal laws governing
  immigration by certain governmental entities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 370, Local Government Code, is amended
  by adding Section 370.0031 to read as follows:
         Sec. 370.0031.  LOCAL GOVERNMENT POLICY REGARDING
  ENFORCEMENT OF STATE AND FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS. (a) This
  section applies to:
               (1)  the governing body of a municipality, county, or
  special district or authority, subject to Subsections (b) and
  (b-1);
               (2)  an officer, employee, or other body that is part of
  a municipality, county, or special district or authority, including
  a sheriff, municipal police department, municipal attorney, or
  county attorney; and
               (3)  a district attorney or criminal district attorney.
         (b)  This section does not apply to a school district or
  open-enrollment charter school or a junior college district, except
  that this subsection does not exclude the application of this
  section to a commissioned peace officer employed or commissioned by
  a school district or open-enrollment charter school or a junior
  college district.  This section does not apply to the release of
  information contained in education records of an educational agency
  or institution, except in conformity with the Family Educational
  Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, Section 513, Pub. L. No. 93-380 (20
  U.S.C. Section 1232g).
         
         (b-1)  This section does not apply to a hospital or hospital
  district created under Subtitle C or D, Title 4, Health and Safety
  Code, or a hospital district created under a general or special law
  authorized by Article IX, Texas Constitution, to the extent that
  the hospital or hospital district is providing access to or
  delivering medical or health care services as required under the
  following applicable federal or state laws:
               (1)  42 U.S.C. Section 1395dd;
               (2)  42 U.S.C. Section 1396b(v);
               (3)  Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Health and Safety Code;
               (4)  Chapter 81, Health and Safety Code; and
               (5)  Section 311.022, Health and Safety Code.
         (b-2)  Subsection (b-1) does not exclude the application of
  this section to a commissioned peace officer employed by or
  commissioned by a hospital or hospital district subject to
  Subsection (b-1).
         (c)  An entity described by Subsection (a) may not adopt a
  rule, order, ordinance, or policy under which the entity prohibits
  the enforcement of the laws of this state or federal law relating to
  immigrants or immigration, including the federal Immigration and
  Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. Section 1101 et seq.).
         (d)  In compliance with Subsection (c), an entity described
  by Subsection (a) may not prohibit a person employed by or otherwise
  under the direction or control of the entity from doing any of the
  following:
               (1)  inquiring into the immigration status of a person
  lawfully detained for the investigation of a criminal offense or
  arrested;
               (2)  with respect to information relating to the
  immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any person lawfully
  detained for the investigation of a criminal offense or arrested:
                     (A)  sending the information to or requesting or
  receiving the information from United States Citizenship and
  Immigration Services or United States Immigration and Customs
  Enforcement, including information regarding an individual's place
  of birth;
                     (B)  maintaining the information; or
                     (C)  exchanging the information with another
  federal, state, or local governmental entity;
               (3)  assisting or cooperating with a federal
  immigration officer as reasonable and necessary, including
  providing enforcement assistance; or
               (4)  permitting a federal immigration officer to enter
  and conduct enforcement activities at a municipal or county jail to
  enforce federal immigration laws.
         (d-1)  An entity described by Subsection (a) or a person
  employed by or otherwise under the direction or control of the
  entity may not consider race, color, language, or national origin
  while enforcing the laws described by Subsection (c) except to the
  extent permitted by the United States Constitution or the Texas
  Constitution.
         (e)  An entity described by Subsection (a) may not receive
  state grant funds if the entity adopts a rule, order, ordinance, or
  policy under which the entity prohibits the enforcement of the laws
  of this state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c) or, by
  consistent actions, prohibits the enforcement of the laws of this
  state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c). State grant funds
  for the entity shall be denied for the fiscal year following the
  year in which a final judicial determination in an action brought
  under this section is made that the entity has intentionally
  prohibited the enforcement of the laws of this state or federal laws
  relating to Subsection (c).
         (f)  Any citizen residing in the jurisdiction of an entity
  described by Subsection (a) may file a complaint with the attorney
  general if the citizen offers evidence to support an allegation
  that the entity has adopted a rule, order, ordinance, or policy
  under which the entity prohibits the enforcement of the laws of this
  state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c) or that, by
  consistent actions, prohibits the enforcement of the laws of this
  state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c). The citizen must
  include with the complaint the evidence the citizen has that
  supports the complaint.
         (g)  If the attorney general determines that a complaint
  filed under Subsection (f) against an entity described by
  Subsection (a) is valid, the attorney general may file a petition
  for a writ of mandamus or apply for other appropriate equitable
  relief in a district court in Travis County or in a county in which
  the principal office of an entity described by Subsection (a) is
  located to compel the entity that adopts a rule, order, ordinance,
  or policy under which the local entity prohibits the enforcement of
  the laws of this state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c) or
  that, by consistent actions, prohibits the enforcement of the laws
  of this state or federal laws relating to Subsection (c) to comply
  with Subsection (c).  The attorney general may recover reasonable
  expenses incurred in obtaining relief under this subsection,
  including court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, investigative
  costs, witness fees, and deposition costs.
         (h)  An appeal of a suit brought under Subsection (g) is
  governed by the procedures for accelerated appeals in civil cases
  under the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. The appellate court
  shall render its final order or judgment with the least possible
  delay.
         SECTION 2.  The heading to Chapter 370, Local Government
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 370. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO [MUNICIPAL
  AND COUNTY] HEALTH AND PUBLIC SAFETY APPLYING TO MORE THAN ONE
  TYPE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
         SECTION 3.  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, 2011.
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