| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to access by a hiring law enforcement agency to an |
|
|
applicant's employment records. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 1701.451, Occupations Code, is amended |
|
|
by amending Subsection (a-1) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(a-1) A law enforcement agency that obtains a consent form |
|
|
described by Subsection (a)(2)(B) shall make an electronic copy of |
|
|
the person's employment records available to a hiring law |
|
|
enforcement agency on request. The commission by rule shall |
|
|
prescribe the manner by which a law enforcement agency shall make a |
|
|
person's employment records electronically available to a hiring |
|
|
law enforcement agency. The rules must provide appropriate privacy |
|
|
and security protections. |
|
|
(d) A law enforcement agency that makes a person's |
|
|
employment records available to a hiring law enforcement agency |
|
|
under Subsection (a-1) shall provide a copy of the records to the |
|
|
person. |
|
|
(e) A law enforcement agency that obtains employment |
|
|
records under this section may not disclose any information |
|
|
contained in the records. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 1701.456(b), Occupations Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) A law enforcement agency, agency head, or other law |
|
|
enforcement official is not liable for civil damages for: |
|
|
(1) a report made by that agency or person if the |
|
|
report is made in good faith; or |
|
|
(2) making a person's employment records available to |
|
|
a hiring law enforcement agency under Section 1701.451(a-1). |
|
|
SECTION 3. Subchapter J, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 1701.459 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 1701.459. CERTAIN AGREEMENTS RELATED TO EMPLOYMENT |
|
|
RECORDS PROHIBITED. A person licensed under this chapter may not |
|
|
enter into an agreement with a law enforcement agency employing the |
|
|
person under which the agency is prohibited from making the |
|
|
person's employment records available to another law enforcement |
|
|
agency under Section 1701.451(a-1). |
|
|
SECTION 4. (a) Not later than December 1, 2021, the Texas |
|
|
Commission on Law Enforcement shall adopt rules as necessary to |
|
|
comply with Section 1701.451, Occupations Code, as amended by this |
|
|
Act. |
|
|
(b) Section 1701.451, Occupations Code, as amended by this |
|
|
Act, applies only to the hiring of a person by a law enforcement |
|
|
agency that occurs on or after December 1, 2021. The hiring of a |
|
|
person by a law enforcement agency that occurs before that date is |
|
|
governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date |
|
|
of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that |
|
|
purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |