Bill Caption

Relating to the offense of failure to comply with an order from a fire marshal and the authority of certain county employees to issue citations for certain violations; changing a criminal penalty. 

Fiscal Notes

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

Bill Analysis

SB 658 would reduce the misdemeanor classification for a person failing to comply with an order from an inspection conducted by a fire marshal from a Class B misdemeanor to Class C misdemeanor. However, a Class A misdemeanor would be issued if the outcome of the offense resulted in bodily injury or death. If, on trial of the offense, it is shown that the defendant had been previously convicted for a similar offense that did not cause bodily harm, the offense would be a Class B misdemeanor. 

SB 658 would then allow a commissioner's court for a county or adjacent county with a population of 3.3 million or more to grant authority to a county employee to issue certain citations. This employee would have to be a certified fire inspector, conduct fire or life safety inspections, and not be a peace officer.  Such employees would be allowed to issue a citation in an unincorporated area of the county for a failure to comply with an order from the fire marshal or an offense of an order relating to fire or life safety issued by the commissioner's court that is reasonably necessary to protect public safety and welfare. Citations issued by such an employee must state the name of the person cited, the violation charge, and the time and place the person would be required to appear in court. Failure to appear in court as required by the citiation would result in a warrant being issued for a person's arrest. 

Vote Recommendation Notes

SB 658 would decrease the criminal offense of certain citations issued for failure to comply with a fire marshal's order, making the law more enforceable, and would make citations for failure to comply with fire-safety codes more specific to each kind of offense. Texas Action supports this provision of SB 658 because it promotes the principle of limited government. However, the bill grants too much authority to municipal employees, by granting them the ability to issue certain citations, and is too subjective. It is better to leave fire code enforcement to fire marshals. For this reason, we recommend opposing SB 658 unless this provision is struck from the bill.