Jeffrey S. Kaiser and Gail F. Kaiser - Page 9

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          police officer.  Obviously, the companies were not authorized to            
          issue warrants of appointment, a necessary event in order for an            
          individual to qualify for employment as a police officer in                 
          Texas.  However, petitioner was hired by the companies to provide           
          police-type services, not as a police officer, although being an            
          active police officer might have been a necessary qualification             
          for the jobs.  Merely because the companies could not appoint and           
          hire petitioner as a police officer, does not mean that he could            
          not be hired as an independent contractor.  In Texas, a police              
          officer can be an employee of a police department and, during his           
          or her off-duty hours, provide police-type services as an                   
          independent contractor to third-parties.  Cf. Hoechst Celanese              
          Corp. v. Compton, 899 S.W.2d 215 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994); City of              
          Dallas v. Half Price Books, Records, Magazines, Inc., 883 S.W.2d            
          374 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994); Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art.                    
          4413(29bb), sec. 3(a) (West Supp. 1996).                                    
               Petitioners next argue that because petitioner was in                  
          uniform while working for the companies, he was acting in his               
          capacity as a police officer, and as such could only be                     
          considered an employee of the Department.  Petitioners cite Wood            
          v. State, 486 S.W.2d 771 (Tex. Crim. App. 1972); Monroe v. State,           
          465 S.W.2d 757 (Tex. Crim. App. 1971); Thompson v. State, 426               
          S.W.2d 242 (Tex. Crim. App. 1968), in support of this argument.             
          Our reading of these cases differs significantly from                       
          petitioners'.  These cases merely confirm a point that is not in            




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