State Senator
Mike Jackson

Senator Mike Jackson was elected to the Texas Senate in 1998. He represents Senate District 11, which includes portions of Harris, Brazoria and Galveston Counties. He serves as Chairman of the powerful Senate Nominations Committee and as a member of the Senate Natural Resources, State Affairs and Government Organizations Committees.

He has been a champion for Homeland Security and the Private Security Industry in Texas. He has continually fought for legislation to give security professionals in our state the tools that we need to better protect the public.

He passed legislation to increase the penalties for the assault on a security officer from a class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor. He also passed legislation to allow security officers to carry and use large pepper spray devices once they received training in the use of the devices.

He closed the loop-hole that allowed peace officers from other states to work in Texas as commissioned security officers without registering with the Private Security Bureau of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

He has continually fought to keep sex offenders away from our children. He is currently working to increase penalties for any theft during a natural disaster. He has also worked tirelessly to assure that our ports are safe from terrorist attack.

For these efforts we proudly name Senator Mike Jackson as ASSIST Legislator of The Year.

Senator Jackson and his wife Vickie have two children, Vic and Michelle.

State Representative
Pat Haggerty

State Representative Pat Haggerty represents House District 78 in El Paso Texas. He was first elected to the Texas Legislature in 1989. He currently serves on the House Corrections Committee and the House Transportation Committee.

Security professionals in Texas have never had a greater champion than Representative Haggerty. He has won many battles for our profession and session after session he stands willing to lead the fight against those who oppose our efforts.

Representative Haggerty has fought to make certain that security officers who are trained in the use of stun guns and pepper spray may use them against criminals. He even fought against the Combined Law Enforcement Association, CLEAT, when they opposed his efforts to make the murder of a commissioned security officer a capitol offense.

He passed legislation to make the assault on a security officer a Class A misdemeanor and he passed legislation making it a Class A misdemeanor to impersonate a security officer.

He is currently fighting to add criminal trespass to the list of offenses for which a citizen�s arrest may be made, clarify language to allow commissioned security officers to carry their weapons on stops to and from work and clarifying cities verified response policies.

He is also working to make certain that private businesses not hire criminals to work as security officers.

Our profession has never had a champion like Pat Haggerty and we are not likely to have another like him for years to come. Each of us owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude.

For these and many other reasons ASSIST proudly names Representative Pat Haggerty as Legislator of the year.