SHERIFF'S AND CONSTABLE'S RESPONSE TO FALSE ALARM IN POPULOUS COUNTY

(a) The commissioners court of a county with a population of more than 3.3 million by order may adopt a system by which the county charges a fee if the sheriff's or constable's office of the county responds to a security alarm and the emergency for which the alarm device was designed to give notice does not exist. (b) The fee shall be charged to a person exercising control of the property on which the alarm device is installed. (c) The commissioners court shall set the amount of the fee. The court may set a single fee that is charged for each response to a false alarm or may establish a fee structure under which different fees are charged according to the differing circumstances of each false alarm. However, the amount of a fee may not exceed the amount of the actual costs incurred by the sheriff's or constable's office in responding to the alarm. (d) Fees collected under this Act shall be deposited in the county treasury to the credit of the general fund of the county.