By: Stucky, Murr (Senate Sponsor - Flores) H.B. No. 2183

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 19, 2023; April 20, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice; May 3, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 3, 2023, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the temporary appointment of county jailers.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 1701.310, Occupations Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1), (b-2), and (b-3) to read as follows:

(b) A county jailer appointed on a temporary basis who does not satisfactorily complete the preparatory training program before the first anniversary of the date that the person is appointed shall be removed from the position. A county jailer appointed on a temporary basis shall be enrolled in the preparatory training program on or before the 90th day after their temporary appointment. A temporary appointment may not be renewed, except that the sheriff may petition the commission to extend the temporary appointment for a period not to exceed six months.

(b-1) A person who has previously been appointed on a temporary basis as a county jailer and separated from that position may be subsequently appointed on a temporary basis as a county jailer under Subsection (b) at the same or a different county jail only if the person was in good standing at the time the person separated from the position.

(b-2) A person who has cumulatively served as a county jailer on a temporary basis under Subsection (b) for two years may continue to serve for the remainder of that temporary appointment, not to exceed the first anniversary of the date of the most recent appointment. The person is not eligible for an extension of that appointment or for a subsequent appointment on a temporary basis as a county jailer under that subsection at the same or a different county jail until the first anniversary of the date the person separates from the temporary appointment during which the person reached two years of cumulative service.

(b-3) A person whose county jailer license has become inactive may be appointed as a county jailer on a temporary basis under Subsection (b).

SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement shall adopt the rules necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act to Section 1701.310, Occupations Code.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.

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