Can a Texas peace officer also work as a juvenile probation officer?

Texas AG Opinion JC-0041: Peace Officer Serving as a Juvenile Probation Officer

Plain-English summary

The executive director of the state agency that licenses Texas peace officers (TCLEOSE) asked whether one person could hold a peace-officer position and also serve as a juvenile probation officer at the same time. The Attorney General said no.

The answer came from Human Resources Code section 141.065, which says a "peace officer, prosecuting attorney, or other person who is employed by or who reports directly to a law enforcement or prosecution official may not act as a probation officer or be made responsible for supervising a juvenile on probation." Someone had argued that the "employed by or reports directly to" language limited the whole sentence, so that a peace officer was barred only if he reported to a law enforcement official. The opinion rejected that reading. Grammatically, that clause modifies only "other person," not "peace officer" or "prosecuting attorney." So every peace officer is covered, full stop.

The opinion then drew a careful line that the request had blurred. A "peace officer" is someone elected, employed, or appointed to one of the positions article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (or another statute) calls a peace officer. That is different from a person who merely holds a TCLEOSE license. TCLEOSE licenses individuals who are eligible to be appointed; it does not itself make anyone a peace officer. So a person who is only a TCLEOSE licensee, and has not actually been appointed to a peace-officer position, is not barred by section 141.065 from serving as a juvenile probation officer.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1999. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Does the bar apply only to peace officers who report to a police or DA's office?
No. The opinion read the statute so that the "employed by or reports directly to" phrase limits only the catch-all "other person." A "peace officer" or "prosecuting attorney" is barred regardless of who they report to.

Who counts as a "peace officer" for this rule?
A person elected, employed, or appointed as a peace officer under article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which lists twenty-nine classes of peace officers, or under another statute. The opinion gave campus security officers appointed under Education Code section 51.203 as an example of an "other law" appointment.

Is a TCLEOSE license the same thing as being a peace officer?
No, and that distinction is the heart of the opinion. TCLEOSE licenses people who are eligible to be appointed peace officers; it does not appoint them. A person can hold a TCLEOSE license without being a peace officer, and in that case section 141.065 does not bar them from being a juvenile probation officer.

Background and statutory framework

Human Resources Code section 141.065 prohibits a "peace officer, prosecuting attorney, or other person who is employed by or who reports directly to a law enforcement or prosecution official" from acting as a probation officer or supervising a juvenile on probation. The opinion's analysis turned on sentence structure: the qualifying clause modifies "other person" alone, so the prohibition reaches all peace officers without a reporting-relationship condition.

To fix the meaning of "peace officer," the opinion looked to Government Code section 415.001(5), which defines the term as a person elected, employed, or appointed under article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure or other law. Article 2.12 enumerates twenty-nine classes of peace officers; Education Code section 51.203 (campus security officers) illustrates an appointing "other law," as recognized in Attorney General Opinion MW-537 (1982). Finally, the opinion distinguished a peace officer from a TCLEOSE licensee under Government Code section 415.051(a): TCLEOSE licenses eligible individuals but does not itself commission peace officers, so a licensee who has not been appointed is outside section 141.065's prohibition.

Citations

Statutes and authorities:

• TEX. HUM. RES. CODE ANN. § 141.065 (Vernon 1990)
• TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. §§ 415.001(4), 415.001(5), 415.051(a) (Vernon 1998)
• TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 2.12 (Vernon Supp. 1999)
• TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN. § 51.203 (Vernon 1996)
• Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. MW-537 (1982)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/john-cornyn/jc-0041
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1999/jc0041.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

May 4, 1999

D. C. "Jim" Dozier, J.D., Ph.D.
Executive Director
Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education
6330 U.S. Highway 290 East, Suite 200
Austin, Texas 78723

Opinion No. JC-0041

Re: Whether section 141.065 of the Human Resources Code prohibits a peace officer from simultaneously serving as a juvenile probation officer (RQ-1224)

Dear Dr. Dozier:

You have requested our opinion as to whether a peace officer may simultaneously serve as a juvenile probation officer. We conclude that he may not do so.

Section 141.065 of the Human Resources Code provides:

A peace officer, prosecuting attorney, or other person who is employed by or who reports directly to a law enforcement or prosecution official may not act as a probation officer or be made responsible for supervising a juvenile on probation.

TEX. HUM. RES. CODE ANN. § 141.065 (Vernon 1990). We have received a brief that asserts that the above-referenced provision is applicable to a peace officer only if he is "employed by" or "reports directly to" a law enforcement or prosecution official. But this is not the sense of the sentence. The clause "who is employed by or who reports directly to a law enforcement or prosecution official" clearly modifies "other person." It does not modify "peace officer" or "prosecuting attorney." Thus, the prohibition of section 141.065 applies to any "peace officer," and any such person is barred from simultaneously serving as a juvenile probation officer.

Chapter 415 of the Government Code establishes the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education ["TCLEOSE"]. Section 415.001(5) thereof defines "peace officer" as "a person elected, employed, or appointed as a peace officer under Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or other law." TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 415.001(5) (Vernon 1998). Article 2.12 lists twenty-nine classes of "peace officers." TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 2.12 (Vernon Supp. 1999). Section 51.203 of the Education Code is an example of an "other law" that authorizes the appointment of peace officers, in this case, campus security officers. TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN. § 51.203 (Vernon 1996); see also Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. MW-537 (1982) (West Texas State University police officers are "peace officers" within the meaning of section 51.203 of the Education Code). Consequently, an individual who holds one of the positions denominated "peace officer" in article 2.12, or by some other statute, whether the person is "elected, employed, or appointed," is prohibited by section 141.065 of the Human Resources Code from simultaneously serving as a juvenile probation officer.

There appears to be some confusion about the difference between a "peace officer" and a person licensed by TCLEOSE. Section 415.051 of the Government Code provides that "a person" may not appoint an "officer," defined in section 415.001(4) to include a peace officer, "unless the officer . . . has the appropriate license from the commission." TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 415.051(a) (Vernon 1998). TCLEOSE does not commission peace officers; it merely licenses individuals who may be appointed peace officers. As a result, a person may be a TCLEOSE licensee, but not a "peace officer." Section 141.065 of the Human Resources Code does not prohibit a mere TCLEOSE licensee from serving as a juvenile probation officer. Rather, it only prohibits a "peace officer," as we have defined the term, from serving as a juvenile probation officer.

SUMMARY

Section 141.065 of the Human Resources Code prohibits a "peace officer," as defined by article 2.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, or other law, from simultaneously serving as a juvenile probation officer. It does not prohibit a mere licensee of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education from serving as a juvenile probation officer.

Very truly yours,

JOHN CORNYN
Attorney General of Texas

ANDY TAYLOR
First Assistant Attorney General

CLARK KENT ERVIN
Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel

ELIZABETH ROBINSON
Chair, Opinion Committee

Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General