Commissioners’ Court to consider keeping gun ban in some county buildings

Historic Ellis County Courthouse

ELLIS COUNTY — A special Ellis County Commissioners' Court meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, January 5, 2016 to discuss a resolution reaffirming the prohibition of weapons in five buildings that hold court.

Item 1.4 in the meeting agenda reads, "Approval of a resolution reaffirming five court buildings in Ellis County as premises where weapons remain prohibited."

The meeting will take place at 10 a.m. on the second floor of the Historic Ellis County Courthouse located at 101 W. Main St. in Waxahachie. The meeting is open to the public.

The agenda is unclear whether the discussion will include banning weapons, including handguns by licensed carriers, entirely from the Historic Ellis County Courthouse on W. Main St. and the Ellis County Courts and Administration building at 109 S. Jackson. According to the Ellis County website, both buildings house other county government offices than just courts.

The Historic Ellis County Courthouse houses the County Auditor, County Judge, County Treasurer, Human Resources, Indigent Health Care, Purchasing and Veterans Services.

The Ellis County Courts and Administration building houses the County and District Attorney, County Clerk, Department of Development, District Clerk, Emergency Management, Engineering, Fire Marshal, Information Technology, Law Library and Tax Assessor. The building also houses three district courts all on the third floor and one county court at law on the third floor and another county court at law on the second floor.

Visitors to the Courts and Administration building must currently pass through a metal detector at the main entrance to access the majority of the offices in the building, excluding some offices, such as the Tax Assessor, which has a separate entrance on the other side of the building.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued Attorney General Opinion KP-0049 on Dec. 21, 2015 in response to a request made by Hays County District Attorney Wesley H. Mau regarding this exact issue.

Hays County prohibited handguns in the Hays County Government Center which is "a large, three-story structure housing a variety of government offices" and "many of the offices in the Center are inhabited by courts or offices utilized by the courts but that several offices in the Center do not serve the courts."

Paxton wrote, "Pursuant to Opinion KP-0047, it is only the courtrooms, and those offices determined to be essential to their operations, from which Hays County may prohibit concealed handguns without risk of incurring a civil penalty under section 411.209 of the Government Code."

"A court would likely conclude that section 411.209 of the Government Code can be implicated by a governmental entity that seeks to improperly prohibit handguns from a place where handguns may be lawfully carried through oral notice or by a written notice that does not conform to section 30.06 of the Penal Code."

Paxton continued, "By the terms of section 30.06 of the Penal Code, a license holder carrying a concealed handgun who refuses, after notice by the governmental entity, to exit premises from which Penal Code sections 46.03 or 46.035 prohibit handguns commits an offense punishable as a misdemeanor. Conversely, a licensee who refuses to relinquish any concealed handgun or refuses to exit the building after being given notice by a governmental entity does not commit an offense if the building is not one from which sections 46.03 and 46.035 prohibit concealed handguns."

Texas Penal Code Section 46.03(a)(3), entitled "Places Weapons Prohibited", states a person commits an offense if he or she carries a weapon or firearm "on the premises of any government court or offices utilized by the court, unless pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the court."

Section 46.03(c)(1) defines "premises" as assigned by Texas Penal Code Section 46.035, which states in subsection (f)(3) "Premises", "means a building or a portion of a building. The term does not include any public or private driveway, street, sidewalk or walkway, parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area."

Section 46.035(c) states, "A license holder commits an offense if the license holder intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries a handgun under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, regardless of whether the handgun is concealed or carried in a shoulder or belt holster, in the room or rooms where a meeting of a governmental entity is held and if the meeting is an open meeting subject to Chapter 551, Government Code, and the entity provided notice as required by that chapter."

Paxton wrote in Opinion KP-0047, also issued on Dec. 21, 2015, "While the outside limits of subsection 46.03(a)(3) may be unclear, at the very least it can be said that the Legislature intended to prohibit concealed handguns from the rooms that house government courts and offices central to the business of the courts. Accordingly, in the absence of clarity from the Legislature and in order to provide concrete advice to governmental entities seeking to secure their courts without penalty, we construe subsection 46.03(a)(3) to encompass only government courtrooms and those offices essential to the operation of the government court."

Opinion KP-0047 was in response to a request made by Tom Green County District Attorney Allison Palmer on July 14, 2015 where additional government offices are housed in the same building as courts.

According to Section 411.209 of the Texas Government Code, entitled "Wrongful Exclusion of Concealed Handgun License Holder", state agencies and political subdivisions of the state, including county governments, can be fined $1,000 to $1,500 for the first violation and between $10,000 and $10,500 for subsequent violations. Additionally, each day the government entity violates the law constitutes a separate violation.

Section 411.209 of the Texas Government Code also states, "A citizen of this state or a person licensed to carry a concealed handgun under this subchapter may file a complaint with the attorney general that a state agency or political subdivision is in violation of Subsection (a) if the citizen or person provides the agency or subdivision a written notice that describes the violation and specific location of the sign found to be in violation and the agency or subdivision does not cure the violation before the end of the third business day after the date of receiving the written notice. A complaint filed under this subsection must include evidence of the violation and a copy of the written notice."

Although the law appears unclear in regard to the limitation of weapon bans outside of courtrooms themselves, as Paxton stated in his opinion, his opinions indicate that Ellis County may be in violation of Section 411.209 of the Texas Government Code should the Ellis County Commissioners' Court decide to prohibit licensed handgun owners from carrying their handguns in entire buildings that house other county offices other than just courts.

The commissioners' court will also discuss approving "the salary for election personnel at an amount within the current budget," receive an update from Emergency Management Coordinator Stephanie Parker regarding the Dec. 26, 2015 tornado disaster and consider approving items related to the disaster.

The commissioners' court may convene into executive session for "consultation regarding personnel matters" and "to deliberate the deployment, or specific occasions for implementation, of security personnel or devices."

Sources:

Ellis County Commissioners' Court meeting agenda for Jan. 5, 2016

Texas Attorney General Opinion KP-0049

Texas Attorney General Opinion KP-0047

Texas Penal Code Section 46.03(a)(3)

Texas Penal Code Section 46.035(c)

July, 14, 2015 Tom Green County District Attorney request for Texas Attorney General Opinion

Texas Government Code Section 411.209