THE ATTORXEY GIZSEW,~. 

OF TEXAS 

November 5, 1990 

Honorable John Whitmire Opinion No. JR-1238 

Chairman 

Intergovernmental Relations Re: Jurisdiction of tranSubcommittee 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 

at any time by 

property of, or held 

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 facilities), other facilities necessary or .convenient 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 contrast, 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 %ystern" in Harris County, section 13(c) expands the jurisdiction 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 

P- 6590