SRC-MAX S.B. 1236 75(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research Center S.B. 1236 By: West State Affairs 4-23-97 As Filed DIGEST Currently, parole officers perform hazardous duties which include direct contact with convicted felons and unescorted home visits in high-crime areas. Other parole employees are also required to have routine contact with releasees. This bill would make parole staff eligible for the supplemental retirement benefits provided to law enforcement and correctional employees. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 1236 provides for credit in the Employees Retirement System of Texas for service as a custodial officer. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY Rulemaking authority is granted to the Board of Pardons and Paroles in SECTION 2 (Sec. 813.506(a), Government Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 811.001(8), Government Code, to redefine "custodial officer." SECTION 2. Amends Section 813.506, Government Code, to require the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Board of Pardons and Paroles, by rule, to adopt standards for determining eligibility for service credit as a custodial officer, based on the need to encourage early retirement of persons whose duties are hazardous and require them to have routine contact with inmates of the institutional or state jail division, rather than inmates of or defendants confined in the state jail division, of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, or inmates released to mandatory supervision or on parole, on a regular basis, without the protection of bars, doors, security screens, or similar devices. Requires the service of a custodial officer to meet requirements of the rules adopted under Subsection (a) and may be performed by persons in certain job categories. Requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or the Board of Pardons and Paroles, as applicable, to determine a person's eligibility to receive credit as a custodial officer. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1997. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.