bill making prosecutors’ cars authorized emergency vehicles

The text as introduced · 422 words

89R17872 JAM-D

By: Hagenbuch
S.B. No. 2710

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to including vehicles of certain prosecutors in the

definition of authorized emergency vehicle.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 541.201(1), Transportation Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(1) "Authorized emergency vehicle" means:

(A) a fire department or police vehicle;

(B) a public or private ambulance operated by a

person who has been issued a license by the Department of State

Health Services;

(C) an emergency medical services vehicle:

(i) authorized under an emergency medical

services provider license issued by the Department of State Health

Services under Chapter 773, Health and Safety Code; and

(ii) operating under a contract with an

emergency services district that requires the emergency medical

services provider to respond to emergency calls with the vehicle;

(D) a municipal department or public service

corporation emergency vehicle that has been designated or

authorized by the governing body of a municipality;

(E) a county-owned or county-leased emergency

management vehicle that has been designated or authorized by the

commissioners court;

(F) a vehicle that has been designated by the

department under Section 546.0065;

(G) a private vehicle of a volunteer firefighter

or a certified emergency medical services employee or volunteer

when responding to a fire alarm or medical emergency;

(H) an industrial emergency response vehicle,

including an industrial ambulance, when responding to an emergency,

but only if the vehicle is operated in compliance with criteria in

effect September 1, 1989, and established by the predecessor of the

Texas Industrial Emergency Services Board of the State

Firefighters' and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas;

(I) a vehicle of a blood bank or tissue bank,

accredited or approved under the laws of this state or the United

States, when making emergency deliveries of blood, drugs,

medicines, or organs;

(J) a vehicle used for law enforcement purposes

that is owned or leased by a federal governmental entity; [ or ]

(K) a private vehicle of an employee or volunteer

of a county emergency management division in a county with a

population of more than 52,600 and less than 55,000 that is

designated as an authorized emergency vehicle by the commissioners

court of that county ; or

(L) a publicly or privately owned vehicle of:

(i) a district attorney, criminal district

attorney, or county attorney; or

(ii) a prosecutor employed by a district

attorney, criminal district attorney, county attorney, or the

attorney general's office .

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.