74R6983 PEP-D
By Allen, Turner of Coleman, Cook H.B. No. 184
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 184:
By Allen C.S.H.B. No. 184
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to membership and continuing education requirements of the
1-3 Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
1-4 Education.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Sections 415.004(b) and (c), Government Code, are
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (b) Three members must be a sheriff, constable, or chief of
1-9 police. Three members must be persons licensed under this chapter,
1-10 two of whom must be peace officers who when appointed hold
1-11 nonsupervisory positions with a law enforcement agency. A licensed
1-12 member must have been licensed for the five consecutive years
1-13 preceding the date of the member's appointment. Three members must
1-14 be members of the general public. A public member may include a
1-15 county or municipal official.
1-16 (c) Appointed members serve staggered six-year terms, with
1-17 the terms of three members, one of whom must be a public member,
1-18 expiring on August 30 of each odd-numbered year.
1-19 SECTION 2. Sections 415.034(a), (b), and (f), Government
1-20 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-21 (a) The commission shall recognize, prepare, or administer
1-22 continuing education and training programs for officers and county
1-23 jailers that are consistent with the officers' and jailers' duties.
1-24 The commission shall annually prepare and, on request, provide to a
2-1 state, county, special district, or municipal agency that appoints
2-2 or employs officers or jailers a list of continuing education and
2-3 training programs the commission determines are consistent or
2-4 inconsistent with the duties of specified officers and jailers.
2-5 (b) The commission shall require a state, county, special
2-6 district, or municipal agency that appoints or employs peace
2-7 officers to provide each peace officer with a training program not
2-8 later than <every> 24 months after the date on which the officer is
2-9 initially appointed or employed. The course must:
2-10 (1) be approved by the commission; and
2-11 (2) unless determined by the commission under
2-12 Subsection (a) to be inconsistent with the officer's duties,
2-13 include education and training in:
2-14 (A) civil rights, racial sensitivity, and
2-15 cultural diversity; and
2-16 (B) the recognition of cases that involve the
2-17 following:
2-18 (i) child abuse;
2-19 (ii) child neglect;
2-20 (iii) family violence; and
2-21 (iv) sexual assault.
2-22 (f) The commission may require a state, county, special
2-23 district, or municipal agency that appoints or employs a peace
2-24 officer, reserve law enforcement officer, county jailer, or public
2-25 security officer to provide <each of those individuals with>
2-26 education and training programs for the officers or jailers. A
2-27 program provided under this subsection must be a program included
3-1 in the list prepared by the commission under Subsection (a) and
3-2 described in that list as a program that is consistent with the
3-3 officers' or jailers' duties. The commission may require education
3-4 and training programs to be provided under this subsection on a
3-5 fixed periodic interval determined by the commission to be of
3-6 sufficient frequency to allow each officer or jailer to maintain
3-7 familiarity with any subject matter for which peace officer
3-8 training is required under Subsection (b) <in civil rights, racial
3-9 sensitivity, and cultural diversity every 24 months>.
3-10 SECTION 3. On the effective date of this Act, the term of
3-11 each appointed member of the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
3-12 Standards and Education expires. In making the initial
3-13 appointments of the successor members, the governor shall designate
3-14 three members, including one public member, for terms expiring on
3-15 August 30, 1997, three members, including one public member, for
3-16 terms expiring August 30, 1999, and three members, including one
3-17 public member, for terms expiring August 30, 2001.
3-18 SECTION 4. (a) The Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
3-19 Standards and Education shall prepare the initial list of education
3-20 and training programs required by Section 2 of this Act not later
3-21 than January 1, 1996.
3-22 (b) The change in law made by Section 2 of this Act applies
3-23 to officers and jailers who participate in an education or training
3-24 program required by Subchapter B, Chapter 415, Government Code, as
3-25 amended by this Act, on or after January 1, 1996.
3-26 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect August 30, 1995.
3-27 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.