Property Security Policies

Building Regulations

Section 1. Scope and Purpose

The purpose of these regulations is to create rules and procedures to be followed in the use of buildings and surrounding areas owned or occupied by Harris County ("County") or the Harris County Flood Control District ("District"). Further, these regulations are designed to maintain the health and safety of the public and County and District employees as well as the security and physical integrity of all buildings owned or occupied by the County or the District.

Section 2. Definitions

The words and terms defined in this section shall have the meanings ascribed unless the context clearly indicates another meaning.

Contract Personnel means an individual who provides services to the County under a contract duly authorized and approved by the Commissioners Court and who the Director of the Facilities and Property Management Department ("Director") has approved for receipt of a County Identification Card. Contract Personnel shall not be approved by the Director unless the services to be provided require daily access to the Premises, as defined below, and further, that the failure to obtain such access would significantly impair the Contract Personnel's performance of the services under the contract with the County.

County Identification Card means a valid and unique identification card issued by the Director of the County's Facilities and Property Management Department to each employee of the County or District who requires access to the Secured Premises of one or more County buildings. Said County Identification Card shall include a photograph of the County or District employee on its face.

Deadly Weapon means a firearm or anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury, or, anything that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. This term also includes explosives, or items intended to be used to fabricate an explosive or incendiary device.

Director means the employee of the County holding the position of Director of the Facilities and Property Management Department.

Entity means any person, group of persons, organization, corporation or other legal entity, but does not include the County or the District.

Exempted Person means an employee of the County or District possessing a valid County Identification Card, and the following persons as defined herein: Contract Personnel, a Peace Officer, a uniformed Fire Protection/Emergency Medical Service person or a Security Officer.

Fire Protection/Emergency Medical Service Person means a person employed, or appointed as a certified fire protection person by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection under Texas Government Code Annotated article 419.032 or 419.0321 or 419.071.

Firearm means any device designed, made, or adapted to expel a projectile through a barrel by using the energy generated by an explosion or burning substance or any device readily convertible to that use.

Material means signs, placards, banners, leaflets, handbills, papers, flyers, pamphlets, or posters.

Official Notices shall mean those notices which are posted as required by law or which relate to County business and are approved for posting by a public official.

Non-official means any use other than the official business for which the public building and surrounding areas are provided. Such use includes distribution of literature, solicitation of signatures on petitions, meeting or gathering with others to hear or observe a speech or other communication, and meeting or gathering with others to picket or otherwise express in a nonviolent manner a position on social, economic, political, or religious issues.

Non-public Area Within a Public Building means any area or portion of a public building which is primarily used as a work place or otherwise used to conduct official business and which is not open to members of the public and which is designated as such by a Public Official.

Peace Officer means a person elected, employed, or appointed as a peace officer under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 2.12, Tex. Educ. Code Ann. §§ 51.212 or 51.214, or other law.

Person means a natural person.

Personal Search means a search of a person through the use of a hand-held metal detector being moved by hand near the person. If the presence of metal object is detected thereby, a pat-down search in the area of the person's body indicated by the hand-held metal detector will be conducted. A male shall conduct a pat-down search of a male, and a female shall conduct a pat-down search of a female.

Premises means property and buildings owned by the County, the District, or occupied by officials, departments, or employees of the County or the District in the regular performance of their official duties including, but not limited to, any Non-public Area Within a Public Building, and Public Area Within a Public Building, and any Public Area Surrounding a Public Building as defined herein.

Public Area means any area within or surrounding a public building and ordinarily open to members of the public for use in conducting official business or otherwise facilitating the public purpose for which the building was designed. Public Area shall not include the traveled portions of any street or road.

Public Area Within a Public Building means any public area within the exterior walls of the public building, including any area that can be secured or locked.

Public Area Surrounding a Public Building means the area outside the exterior walls of the public building, and outside any area that can be secured or locked.

Public Building means any building or structure, or part thereof, occupied or controlled by the County or the District.

Public Official means any elected or appointed official of the County, the District, or the State of Texas and a person designated as a department head by the Commissioners Court of the County.

Secured Premises means property and buildings owned by the County, the District, or occupied by officials, departments, or employees of the County or the District in the regular performance of their official duties including, but not limited to, any Non-public Area Within a Public Building, any Public Area Within a Public Building, and any Public Area Surrounding a Public Building as defined herein and in which are located, either permanently or temporarily, one or more magnetometers and/or x-ray machines, installed there at the direction and with the approval of the Commissioners Court of the County.

Security Officer means a security officer commissioned by the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies, if that person:

a. Holds all current and valid authorizations required from the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies to carry a firearm during the performance of his duties;

b. Is wearing a distinctive uniform;

c. Has the handgun in plain view; and


d. Is an employee of the County or the District or a contractor retained by the County for the purpose of providing security in the Public Area Within a Public Building, the Public Area Surrounding a Public Building or the Non-public Area Within a Public Building.

Section 3. Firearms or Other Deadly Weapons on Premises

3.1 Carrying of a firearm or other deadly weapon within or on any Premises or Secured Premises except those persons who are peace officers or security officers is prohibited.

3.2 Notice of this prohibition against firearms and other deadly weapons will be posted on all Premises and any violation of this prohibition shall be punished as provided by state law and/or federal law, including Section 30.05 of the Texas Penal Code [Criminal Trespass].

3.3 This section is expressly made cumulative of any other county rules and regulations relating to the possession of weapons by County or District officials or employees.

Section 4. Admission to Secured Premises

4.1 Any person, other than an Exempted Person as defined herein, desiring to enter the Secured Premises shall enter through the designated entrance or entrances to the Secured Premises and shall be required to pass through a magnetometer, (i.e., a metal detector), if one is present. Any person who activates a magnetometer shall be free to leave the Secured Premises without further search or questioning.

4.2 Any person who activates a magnetometer and still desires to enter the Secured Premises may remove metal objects from his/her pockets or on his/her body and pass through the magnetometer a second time. If the magnetometer is again activated, the person will not be allowed to enter the Secured Premises unless: (1) the person gives express consent to a personal search, (2) a personal search is conducted, and (3) all weapons are surrendered.

4.3 The Director shall provide safe storage for items surrendered by persons entering the Secured Premises when the continued possession of the items would bar entry to the Secured Premises under these regulations. Those items shall be returned to the person who surrendered them unless possession of the items is in itself illegal. Illegal items shall be confiscated and turned over to the Harris County Sheriff or a Harris County Constable for appropriate disposition.

4.4 A Harris County employee or official supervising the operation of the magnetometer may exempt or excuse from all or part of the foregoing screening process any person having a surgically implanted metal item in his or her body, a person wearing a prosthetic device or using a device designated to assist the person's mobility (including wheelchairs and motorized carts), which is difficult to remove or the removal of which deprives the person of the mobility needed to move through a magnetometer.

4.5 Employees of Harris County desiring to enter Secured Premises may enter through the designated employees' entrance(s) to the Secured Premises. Before entering, they shall present to the Harris County employee or official supervising the operation of the magnetometer his/her personally unique valid County Identification Card for inspection and acceptance. The Director shall issue a valid and unique County Identification Card to each County or District employee who requires access to the Secured Premises of one or more County or District buildings as soon as possible after the employee begins working for the County or the District.

4.6 All packages, briefcases, and other containers in the immediate possession of persons entering Secured Premises shall be subject to inspection. No person, other than Exempted Persons as defined herein, shall be permitted to carry a package, briefcase, or other container into the Secured Premises unless the package, briefcase, or other container has been inspected by authorized personnel to determine that it does not contain a Deadly Weapon.

4.7 One or more signs, of a size and design reasonably calculated to inform the public of a public entrance to a Secured Premises, shall be posted at each designated public entrance to such Secured Premises. Likewise, signs prohibiting public entrance to Secured Premises shall be posted at those entrances where no public access is permitted.

4.8 The sign(s) posted at each public entrance to a Secured Premises shall give notice that:

a. No weapons or explosives may be brought into the Secured Premises;

b. All persons entering the Secured Premises are subject to search for weapons or explosives; and

c. All packages, briefcases, and other containers are subject to search prior to entering the Secured Premises.

4.9 The sign(s) posted at each non-public entrance to a Secured Premises shall give notice that entry is prohibited.

Section 5. Non-official Use of Public Areas

5.1 In accordance with this section, those Public Areas suitable for meetings or gatherings may be made available for non-official use after regular business hours provided such areas are not needed for official business. However, such non-official use may not be scheduled between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

5.2 Any entity desiring to hold a meeting or gathering in Public Areas designated by the Commissioners Court for such non-official use shall submit written notice any weekday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to the Director at 1310 Prairie, Suite 1330, Houston, Texas. The notice shall contain the following:

a. The full name, mailing address, and telephone number of the entity and the person representing the entity desiring to make the non-official use;

b. Identify the specific Public Area to be used;

c. Provide a general description of the nature of the non-official use (i.e. meeting) and the expected number of participating persons; and

d. Provide the dates and hours during which the Public Area is to be used.

5.3 Notice must be delivered at least ten (10) days prior to the initial proposed use of a Public Area. Each notice shall be valid for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days and may request more than one day or time within the ninety (90) days.

5.4 Use will be allocated by the County on a first-come, first-served basis and subject to the availability of the requested Public Area.

5.5 The Public Areas provided herein are primarily for official business, and in the event of a conflict, the need and use for official business shall take priority.

5.6 The County reserves the right to preempt the scheduled use of the Public Area if said Public Area is needed to conduct official business.

5.7 A person who makes non-official use of a Public Area Surrounding a Public Building may hold, carry, or display as much material as that person can hold, carry, or display on his or her person at all times. Any excess material or any material found in the Public Area after the person has left shall be removed.

5.8 A person may use a portable chair or table while holding, carrying, or displaying material, but a person may not place articles in or on Premises that give the impression of permanent or semi-permanent occupancy or residency (for example, a bed, cot, filing cabinet, sofa, desk, heater, refrigerator, stove, or portable bathroom facilities). Any excess articles shall be removed.

Section 6. General Provisions

6.1 Persons in Public Areas shall at all times comply with all applicable federal, state, county, city, or other local statutes, ordinances, rules, or regulations.

6.2 Activities in Public Areas may not interfere with or disrupt the conduct of official business for which such public building and Public Areas are provided.

6.3 Interference with the free ingress and egress to any Premises is prohibited.

6.4 The unauthorized affixing or posting of material on the grounds, walks, driveways, public buildings and other structures, or on the floor, walls, stairs, or furnishings within a Public Area is prohibited.

6.5 The Director shall remove material in or surrounding public buildings which is not authorized pursuant to Sections 5.7 and 5.8.

6.6 The disposal of rubbish in any manner other than by depositing same in a trash can; the willful destruction of, or damage to, or theft of, county property; the creation of any hazard to persons or things; the throwing of articles of any kind from, or at a building, or the climbing upon plant bedding areas or any part of a public building is prohibited.

6.7 The alteration of any Public Areas and the movement of furniture, fixtures, or other public property within, and surrounding public buildings, by anyone other than a Public Official authorized to take such action is prohibited.

6.8 No private entity may purport to act for or on behalf of the County or the District. The County or the District may advise the public through signs or announcements that entities making non-official use of Public Areas are not affiliated with the County or the District.

6.9 Any costs incurred by the County or the District as a result of non-official use of public buildings after regular business hours shall be paid by the entity using the Public Area, including clean-up costs, if the Premises are not left in a neat and clean condition.

6.10 The solicitation or sale of goods and services (other than foreclosure, sheriff's, and constable's sales) on public property are prohibited, unless the entity receives the prior written approval of the Commissioners Court of the County.

6.11 Unless authorized by a Public Official, no entity shall have access to a Non-public Area Within a Public Building.

Section 7. Severability

If any provision, section , subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of these regulations, or the application of same to any person, or set of circumstances is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, void or invalid, the validity of the remaining portions of the regulations or their application to other persons or sets of circumstances shall not be affected. It is the intent of the Commissioners Court of the County that no portion hereof or provision or regulation contained herein shall become inoperative or fail by reason of any unconstitutionality, voidness or invalidity, and all provisions of these regulations are declared to be severable for that purpose.

Section 8. Effective Date

These regulations shall take effect on 10 May 1995. All previously adopted regulations are superseded and repealed.