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House Bill 3823 |
House Author: Thompson |
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Effective: 9-1-11 |
Senate Sponsor: Ellis |
House Bill 3823 amends the Occupations Code to include telecommunicators employed by or serving certain law enforcement agencies among the law enforcement personnel regulated by provisions relating to certain duties of the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, the disqualification of law enforcement personnel for certain convictions, and the commission's issuance of proficiency certificates to law enforcement personnel. The bill establishes that an employing agency is not prevented from establishing qualifications and standards for hiring or training telecommunicators that exceed the commission's minimum standards and also requires that a telecommunicator be at least 18 years old and hold a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate. A state, county, special district, or municipal agency that employs telecommunicators is required to provide each telecommunicator with 24 hours of crisis communications instruction approved by the commission on or before the first anniversary of the telecommunicator's first day of employment. The bill makes it a state jail felony offense for a person to appoint, employ, or retain an individual as a telecommunicator if the individual has a felony or barratry conviction.