By Moncrief S.B. No. 1339
74R7016 PEP-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain conditions of employment for police officers in
1-3 certain municipalities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 143, Local Government Code, is amended by
1-6 adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER I. POLICE OFFICER EMPLOYMENT MATTERS
1-8 IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES
1-9 Sec. 143.301. MUNICIPALITIES COVERED BY SUBCHAPTER. This
1-10 subchapter applies only to a municipality with a population of
1-11 440,000 or more that operates under a city manager form of
1-12 government. This subchapter does not apply to a municipality:
1-13 (1) that has adopted Chapter 174 (The Fire and Police
1-14 Employee Relations Act); or
1-15 (2) to which Subchapter H applies.
1-16 Sec. 143.302. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-17 (1) "Police officers' association" means an
1-18 organization in which police officers participate and that exists
1-19 for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with one or more
1-20 employers, whether public or private, concerning grievances, labor
1-21 disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions
1-22 of work affecting public employees.
1-23 (2) "Public employer" means any municipality or
1-24 agency, board, commission, or political subdivision controlled by a
2-1 municipality that is required to establish the wages, salaries,
2-2 rates of pay, hours, working conditions, and other terms and
2-3 conditions of employment of, and affirmative action programs
2-4 affecting, public employees. The term may include, under
2-5 appropriate circumstances, a mayor, manager, administrator of a
2-6 municipality, municipal governing body, director of personnel,
2-7 personnel board, or one or more other officials, regardless of the
2-8 name by which they are designated.
2-9 Sec. 143.303. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
2-10 RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES. (a) A municipality may not be denied
2-11 local control over wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work,
2-12 other terms and conditions of employment, or other state-mandated
2-13 personnel issues on which the public employer and the police
2-14 officers' association that is recognized as the sole and exclusive
2-15 bargaining agent for all police officers in the municipality agree.
2-16 A term or condition on which the public employer and the
2-17 association do not agree is governed by the applicable statutes,
2-18 local ordinances, and civil service rules. An agreement must be
2-19 reduced to writing. This subchapter does not require the public
2-20 employer and the association to meet and confer or reach an
2-21 agreement on any issue.
2-22 (b) A public employer and a police officers' association
2-23 recognized under this subchapter as a sole and exclusive bargaining
2-24 agent may meet and confer only if the association does not
2-25 advocate the right to strike by public employees.
2-26 (c) A police officer of a municipality may not engage in a
2-27 strike or organized work stoppage against this state or a political
3-1 subdivision of this state. A police officer who participates in a
3-2 strike forfeits all civil service rights, reemployment rights, and
3-3 other rights, benefits, or privileges the police officer enjoys as
3-4 a result of the officer's employment or previous employment with
3-5 the municipality. This subsection does not affect the right of an
3-6 officer to cease employment if the officer is not acting in concert
3-7 with other police officers.
3-8 Sec. 143.304. RECOGNITION OF POLICE OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION.
3-9 (a) The public employer shall recognize a police officers'
3-10 association that submits a petition signed by a majority of the
3-11 paid police officers in the municipality, excluding the head of the
3-12 department and assistant department heads in the rank or
3-13 classification immediately below that of the department head, as
3-14 the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all of the covered
3-15 police officers unless recognition of the association is withdrawn
3-16 by a majority of the covered officers.
3-17 (b) A question of whether a police officers' association is
3-18 the majority representative of the covered police officers shall be
3-19 resolved by a fair election conducted according to procedures
3-20 agreed on by the parties. If the parties are unable to agree on
3-21 election procedures, either party may request the American
3-22 Arbitration Association to conduct the election and to certify the
3-23 results. Certification of the results of an election under this
3-24 subsection resolves the question concerning representation. The
3-25 association shall pay the costs of the election, except that if two
3-26 or more associations seeking recognition as the bargaining agent
3-27 submit petitions signed by a majority of the covered police
4-1 officers, the associations shall share equally the costs of the
4-2 election.
4-3 (c) The public employer's manager or chief executive and the
4-4 police chief shall designate a team to represent the public
4-5 employer as its sole and exclusive bargaining agent for issues
4-6 related to the police department.
4-7 Sec. 143.305. OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. An agreement made
4-8 under this subchapter is a public record for purposes of Chapter
4-9 552, Government Code. The agreement and any document prepared and
4-10 used by the municipality in connection with the agreement are
4-11 available to the public under Chapter 552, Government Code, only
4-12 after the agreement is ratified by the municipality's governing
4-13 body. This section does not affect the application of Subchapter
4-14 C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared and used by
4-15 the municipality in connection with the agreement.
4-16 Sec. 143.306. ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT. (a) A written
4-17 agreement made under this subchapter between a public employer and
4-18 a police officers' association is binding on the public employer,
4-19 the association, and police officers covered by the agreement if:
4-20 (1) the municipality's governing body ratifies the
4-21 agreement by a majority vote; and
4-22 (2) the association ratifies the agreement by a
4-23 majority vote of its members by secret ballot.
4-24 (b) An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a) may
4-25 establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
4-26 disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
4-27 agreement, including binding arbitration on interpretation of the
5-1 agreement.
5-2 (c) The district court of the judicial district in which the
5-3 municipality is located has full authority and jurisdiction on the
5-4 application of either party aggrieved by an act or omission of the
5-5 other party related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by a
5-6 written agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a). The
5-7 court may issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
5-8 injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including a
5-9 contempt order, that is appropriate to enforce the agreement.
5-10 Sec. 143.307. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
5-11 (a) An agreement under this subchapter supersedes a previous
5-12 statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work,
5-13 other terms and conditions of employment, or an affirmative action
5-14 program to the extent of any conflict with the statute.
5-15 (b) An agreement under this subchapter preempts any contrary
5-16 statute, executive order, local ordinance, or rule adopted by the
5-17 state or a political subdivision or agent of the state, including a
5-18 personnel board, a civil service commission, or a home-rule
5-19 municipality.
5-20 (c) An agreement under this subchapter may not diminish or
5-21 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
5-22 chapter or other law unless approved by a majority vote by secret
5-23 ballot of the members of the police officers' association
5-24 recognized as a sole and exclusive bargaining agent.
5-25 Sec. 143.308. REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE. Not later
5-26 than the 45th day after the date an agreement is ratified by both
5-27 the municipality and the police officers' association, a petition
6-1 signed by at least 10 percent of the qualified voters of the
6-2 municipality may be presented to the municipal secretary calling an
6-3 election for the repeal of the agreement. On receipt of the
6-4 petition by the municipal secretary, the governing body shall
6-5 reconsider the agreement and either repeal the agreement or call an
6-6 election of the qualified voters to determine if they desire to
6-7 repeal the agreement. The election shall be called for the next
6-8 municipal election or a special election called by the governing
6-9 body for that purpose. If at the election a majority of the votes
6-10 are cast in favor of the repeal of the adoption of the agreement,
6-11 the agreement is void. The ballot shall be printed to permit
6-12 voting for or against the proposition: "Repeal of the adoption of
6-13 the agreement ratified by the municipality and the police officers'
6-14 association concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
6-15 work, and other terms and conditions of employment."
6-16 Sec. 143.309. PROTECTED RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES. (a)
6-17 For the purpose of any disciplinary appeal to the civil service
6-18 commission or to a hearing examiner, a member of the bargaining
6-19 unit may choose to be represented by any person of the member's
6-20 choice or by the police officers' association.
6-21 (b) An agreement may not interfere with the right of a
6-22 member of a police officers' association to pursue allegations of
6-23 discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin,
6-24 religion, age, sex, or disability with the Commission on Human
6-25 Rights or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or to pursue
6-26 affirmative action litigation.
6-27 Sec. 143.310. BINDING INTEREST ARBITRATION. A municipality
7-1 may be required to submit to binding interest arbitration only if
7-2 approved by a majority of those voting in a public referendum
7-3 conducted in accordance with the municipality's charter. This
7-4 subsection does not affect any disciplinary arbitration or
7-5 arbitration provision in a ratified agreement.
7-6 Sec. 143.311. APPOINTMENTS TO CLASSIFICATION IMMEDIATELY
7-7 BELOW DEPARTMENT HEAD. Section 143.014(c) does not apply to a
7-8 municipality to which this subchapter applies.
7-9 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
7-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-14 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-15 passage, and it is so enacted.