By: Turner S.B. No. 986
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to appointing or retaining an officer, public security
1-2 officer, or county jailer and to revocations, suspensions, and
1-3 denials of licenses issued by the Commission on Law Enforcement
1-4 Officer Standards and Education; creating an offense and providing
1-5 penalties.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Subsection (c), Section 415.009, Government Code,
1-8 is amended to read as follows:
1-9 (c) The commission is subject to the open meetings law,
1-10 Chapter 271, Acts of the 60th Legislature, Regular Session, 1967
1-11 (Article 6252-17, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), and the
1-12 Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act (Article 6252-13a,
1-13 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) except as otherwise provided in this
1-14 chapter.
1-15 SECTION 2. Section 415.058, Government Code, is amended by
1-16 amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
1-17 as follows:
1-18 (a) A person who has been convicted of a felony is
1-19 disqualified from being <to be> an officer, public security
1-20 officer, or county jailer. The commission may not license and a
1-21 law enforcement agency shall not appoint or retain such a person,
1-22 and an attempt to license or appoint such a person is a void act.
1-23 On <and shall on> conviction of a felony, a person's license is
2-1 automatically revoked, and the judgment should so recite
2-2 <immediately revoke the license of a person previously licensed>.
2-3 If a judgment does not recite that the person's license is
2-4 automatically revoked, the commission shall revoke the license
2-5 pursuant to the Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act
2-6 (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
2-7 (c) The clerk of the court referred to in Subsection (b)
2-8 shall forward to the commission, either by mail or electronically,
2-9 the license number of a person whose license is automatically
2-10 revoked under this section and a certified copy of the judgment
2-11 reflecting the automatic revocation.
2-12 (d) The commission shall make the appropriate notation on
2-13 the person's licensing records. The commission may not accept the
2-14 appointment report on a person convicted of a felony or on
2-15 court-ordered probation.
2-16 SECTION 3. Section 415.060, Government Code, is amended by
2-17 amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
2-18 follows:
2-19 (b) The commission shall revoke or suspend a license, place
2-20 on probation a person whose license has been suspended, or
2-21 reprimand a licensee for a violation of this chapter or a rule of
2-22 the commission, and the commission may establish any other
2-23 enforcement procedures it deems necessary for the administration of
2-24 this chapter and its rules. A person whose license the commission
2-25 proposes to suspend or revoke is entitled to a hearing before the
3-1 commission, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
3-2 (d) The license of a person placed on court-ordered
3-3 probation is automatically suspended until the person is released
3-4 from probation and the license is reinstated pursuant to the
3-5 commission's procedures. The court documents should recite and
3-6 reflect this automatic suspension of the license. The clerk of the
3-7 court shall forward to the commission, either by mail or
3-8 electronically, the license number of a person whose license is
3-9 automatically suspended under this section and a certified copy of
3-10 the court documents reflecting the automatic suspension.
3-11 SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 415.061, Government Code,
3-12 is amended to read as follows:
3-13 (a) A person dissatisfied with an action of the commission
3-14 may appeal the action as authorized by the Administrative Procedure
3-15 and Texas Register Act (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil
3-16 Statutes) <by filing a petition in a district court of Travis
3-17 County not later than the 30th day after the date of the action>.
3-18 The court shall set the matter for hearing not earlier than 10 days
3-19 after written notice of the appeal is given to the commission and
3-20 commission's attorney.
3-21 SECTION 5. Section 415.065, Government Code, is amended to
3-22 read as follows:
3-23 Sec. 415.065. VIOLATION. (a) A person commits an offense
3-24 if the person:
3-25 (1) appoints or retains an individual as an officer or
4-1 county jailer in violation of Section 415.051, <or> 415.057, or
4-2 415.058; or
4-3 (2) makes the appointment when the appointee does not
4-4 satisfy the requirements of Section 415.036.
4-5 (b) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
4-6 punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000,
4-7 except that a person commits a third degree felony if that person
4-8 appoints or retains an individual in violation of Section 415.058.
4-9 SECTION 6. Section 21, Administrative Procedure and Texas
4-10 Register Act (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
4-11 amended by adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:
4-12 (j) Sections 12 through 20 of this Act do not apply to the
4-13 automatic revocation, automatic suspension, or automatic denial of
4-14 licenses expressly authorized under Sections 415.058 and 415.060,
4-15 Government Code, based on a felony conviction as defined by Section
4-16 415.058, Government Code, or based on the licensee's being on
4-17 court-ordered probation, unless otherwise specified by those
4-18 sections.
4-19 SECTION 7. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
4-20 only to the revocation, suspension, or denial of a license issued
4-21 by the commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
4-22 Education on or after the effective date of this Act or to an
4-23 offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For
4-24 purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
4-25 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
5-1 before the effective date.
5-2 (b) A license revoked, suspended, or denied or an offense
5-3 committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the
5-4 law in effect when the license was revoked, suspended, or denied or
5-5 the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in
5-6 effect for this purpose.
5-7 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
5-8 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
5-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.