By Turner S.B. No. 504
74R1664 PEP-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to appointing and licensing of officers by the Commission
1-3 on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education; providing a
1-4 penalty.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 415.009(c), Government Code, is amended
1-7 to read as follows:
1-8 (c) Except as provided by Sections 415.058 and 415.0581, the
1-9 <The> commission is subject to the open meetings law, Chapter 551,
1-10 and the administrative procedure law, Chapter 2001 <the open
1-11 meetings law, Chapter 271, Acts of the 60th Legislature, Regular
1-12 Session, 1967 (Article 6252-17, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), and
1-13 the Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act (Article
1-14 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)>.
1-15 SECTION 2. Section 415.058, Government Code, is amended to
1-16 read as follows:
1-17 Sec. 415.058. FELONY CONVICTION OR PLACEMENT ON COMMUNITY
1-18 SUPERVISION. (a) A person who has been convicted of a felony is
1-19 disqualified to be an officer, public security officer, or county
1-20 jailer. The commission may not license and a law enforcement
1-21 agency may not appoint or employ <such> a person convicted of a
1-22 felony. If a person licensed under this chapter is convicted of a
1-23 felony, the commission shall <and shall on conviction of a felony>
1-24 immediately revoke the person's license <of a person previously
2-1 licensed>.
2-2 (b) If a person licensed under this chapter is charged with
2-3 the commission of a felony and is placed on community supervision,
2-4 the commission shall immediately suspend the person's license
2-5 regardless of whether the court defers further proceedings without
2-6 entering an adjudication of guilt.
2-7 (c) <(b)> For purposes of this section, a person is
2-8 convicted of a felony if a court of competent jurisdiction enters
2-9 an adjudication of guilt against the person on a felony offense
2-10 under the laws of this or another state or the United States,
2-11 regardless of whether:
2-12 (1) the sentence is subsequently probated and the
2-13 person is discharged from community supervision <probation>;
2-14 (2) the accusation, complaint, information, or
2-15 indictment against the person is dismissed and the person is
2-16 released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the
2-17 offense; or
2-18 (3) the person is pardoned for the offense, unless the
2-19 pardon is granted expressly for subsequent proof of innocence.
2-20 (d) The commission, on receiving a certified copy of a
2-21 court's judgment under Article 42.011, Code of Criminal Procedure,
2-22 shall note on the person's licensing records the conviction or
2-23 community supervision indicated by the judgment.
2-24 SECTION 3. Section 415.060(b), Government Code, is amended
2-25 to read as follows:
2-26 (b) The commission shall revoke or suspend a license, place
2-27 on probation a person whose license has been suspended, or
3-1 reprimand a licensee for a violation of this chapter or a rule of
3-2 the commission, and the commission may by rule provide for any
3-3 other necessary enforcement procedures. Except as provided by
3-4 Sections 415.058 and 415.0581, a <A> person whose license the
3-5 commission proposes to suspend or revoke is entitled to a hearing
3-6 before the commission. When a person whose license is suspended
3-7 under Section 415.058(b) is released from community supervision,
3-8 the license may be reinstated under commission rules.
3-9 SECTION 4. Section 415.061(a), Government Code, is amended
3-10 to read as follows:
3-11 (a) A person dissatisfied with an action of the commission
3-12 may appeal the action under the administrative procedure law,
3-13 Chapter 2001 <by filing a petition in a district court of Travis
3-14 County not later than the 30th day after the date of the action>.
3-15 The court shall set the matter for hearing not earlier than 10 days
3-16 after written notice of the appeal is given to the commission and
3-17 the commission's attorney.
3-18 SECTION 5. Section 415.065, Government Code, is amended to
3-19 read as follows:
3-20 Sec. 415.065. VIOLATION. (a) A person commits an offense
3-21 if the person:
3-22 (1) appoints or retains an individual as an officer or
3-23 county jailer in violation of Section 415.051 or 415.057; or
3-24 (2) makes the appointment when the appointee does not
3-25 satisfy the requirements of Section 415.036.
3-26 (b) A person commits an offense if the person appoints or
3-27 retains an individual as an officer, public security officer, or
4-1 county jailer in violation of Section 415.058 or 415.0581.
4-2 (c) <(b)> An offense under Subsection (a) <this section> is
4-3 a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more
4-4 than $1,000.
4-5 (d) An offense under Subsection (b) is a state jail felony.
4-6 SECTION 6. Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
4-7 amended by adding Article 42.011 to read as follows:
4-8 Art. 42.011. JUDGMENT AFFECTING AN OFFICER OR JAILER. If a
4-9 person licensed under Chapter 415, Government Code, is charged with
4-10 the commission of a felony and a court that knows the person is
4-11 licensed under that chapter convicts the person or places the
4-12 person on community supervision, the clerk of the court shall send
4-13 the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education,
4-14 by mail or electronically, the license number of the person and a
4-15 certified copy of the court's judgment reflecting that the person
4-16 has been convicted or placed on community supervision.
4-17 SECTION 7. (a) The changes in law made by the amendment by
4-18 this Act of Sections 415.058 and 415.060(b), Government Code, apply
4-19 only to a license issued by the Commission on Law Enforcement
4-20 Officer Standards and Education that is revoked or suspended or a
4-21 license denied on or after the effective date of this Act. A
4-22 license revoked, suspended, or denied before that date is governed
4-23 by the law in effect when the license was revoked, suspended, or
4-24 denied, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-25 (b) Those changes apply only to the placement of a person on
4-26 community supervision for an offense the person committed on or
4-27 after September 1, 1995. For purposes of this section, an offense
5-1 is committed before September 1, 1995, if any element of the
5-2 offense occurs before that date. The placement of a person on
5-3 community supervision for an offense the person committed before
5-4 September 1, 1995, is covered by the law in effect when the offense
5-5 was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
5-6 purpose.
5-7 (c) The changes in law made by the amendment by this Act of
5-8 Section 415.065, Government Code, apply only to a person who
5-9 appoints or retains an individual as an officer or county jailer in
5-10 violation of Section 415.058, Government Code, as amended by this
5-11 Act, or Section 415.0581, Government Code, on or after September 1,
5-12 1995. Appointment or retention of an officer or county jailer
5-13 before September 1, 1995, is governed by the law in effect on the
5-14 day the appointment or retention occurred, and the former law is
5-15 continued in effect for that purpose.
5-16 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
5-17 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
5-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.