SGN H.B. 1422 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS CORRECTIONS H.B. 1422 By: Hightower 3-5-97 Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND Currently, polygraph examinations are not admissible in a court of law in this state, yet they may be used to terminate some employees. Polygraphs may be misused in some internal investigations and may be used to intimidate and abuse employees. Some people feel polygraphs are unreliable and should be discontinued from use in employee misconduct cases. The legislature has prohibited the use of polygraphs in investigations of peace officers employed by the Department of Public Safety and severely limited the use of polygraphs in certain police and sheriff's departments. PURPOSE This bill would prohibit TDCJ from suspending, discharging, or subjecting an employee to employment discrimination based on the employee's refusal to submit to a polygraph examination during the investigation of a complaint of misconduct. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 493, Government Code, by adding Section 493.022 which provides that a correctional officer employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and who has had a written complaint made by or filed with the department, cannot be suspended, discharged, or subjected to any form of employment discrimination by the department because the employee refuses to take a polygraph examination. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Committee amendment number one provides that the new section apply to all employees of the TDCJ instead of just correctional officers.