By Yarbrough H.B. No. 1540
75R1628 JRD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the sheriff's department civil service system in
1-3 certain counties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 158.034, Local Government Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 158.034. APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSION. (a) In a county
1-8 with a population of less than 2.8 million, if [If] a majority of
1-9 the employees voting at the election approve the creation of a
1-10 sheriff's department civil service system, the sheriff,
1-11 commissioners court, and district attorney shall each appoint one
1-12 person to serve as a member of the civil service commission that
1-13 administers the system. In a county with a population of 2.8
1-14 million or more, if a majority of the employees voting at the
1-15 election approve the creation of a sheriff's department civil
1-16 service system, the sheriff, commissioners court, and district
1-17 attorney shall each appoint two persons to serve as members of the
1-18 civil service commission that administers the system, and the three
1-19 appointing authorities shall appoint one member by joint action
1-20 requiring the affirmative vote of each of the authorities.
1-21 (b) The sheriff shall designate one of the members as
1-22 chairman of the commission.
1-23 (c) [(b)] Each member of the commission is appointed for a
1-24 term of two years. However, the initial members of the commission
2-1 in a county with a population of less than 2.8 million shall
2-2 determine by lot which two of them will serve a term of two years
2-3 and which one of them will serve a term of one year. In a county
2-4 with a population of 2.8 million or more:
2-5 (1) the initial member appointed jointly under
2-6 Subsection (a) serves a term of two years; and
2-7 (2) the initial members appointed by each individual
2-8 appointing authority shall determine by lot which one of the two
2-9 initial members appointed by the appointing authority will serve a
2-10 term of two years and which initial member appointed by that
2-11 authority will serve a term of one year.
2-12 (d) [(c)] The entity that appointed a member of the
2-13 commission whose position becomes vacant shall appoint a person to
2-14 serve the unexpired part of the member's term.
2-15 (e) [(d)] To be eligible for appointment to the commission,
2-16 a person must:
2-17 (1) be at least 25 years old; and
2-18 (2) have resided in the county for the three years
2-19 immediately preceding the date on which the person's term will
2-20 begin.
2-21 SECTION 2. Section 158.035(c), Local Government Code, is
2-22 amended to read as follows:
2-23 (c) In a county with a population of 2.8 million or more, a
2-24 panel of [at least] three commissioners shall preside at the
2-25 hearing and vote on the commission's final decision in any case
2-26 involving termination, demotion, or recovery of back pay. A panel's
2-27 decision is the final decision of the commission for purposes of
3-1 Sections 158.0351 and 158.037. The commission shall adopt rules
3-2 prescribing the commission's procedures for assigning members to a
3-3 panel.
3-4 SECTION 3. Notwithstanding Section 158.034(b), Local
3-5 Government Code, as amended by this Act, in a county with a
3-6 population of 2.8 million or more that established a sheriff's
3-7 department civil service system before the effective date of this
3-8 Act:
3-9 (1) the term of each of the three members of the
3-10 commission serving immediately before the effective date of this
3-11 Act continues in effect for the full two years provided by law;
3-12 (2) as soon as possible after the effective date of
3-13 this Act, the sheriff, commissioners court, and district attorney
3-14 shall jointly appoint one member of the commission for an initial
3-15 term of more than one year but not more than two years that expires
3-16 on the date that the term of a member of the commission serving
3-17 immediately before the effective date of this Act expires; and
3-18 (3) as soon as possible after the effective date of
3-19 this Act, the sheriff, commissioners court, and district attorney
3-20 shall each appoint one member for a term that expires on the next
3-21 date that the term of a member of the commission serving
3-22 immediately before the effective date of this Act expires that is
3-23 not also the date that the current term to which the appointing
3-24 authority already appoints a member expires.
3-25 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-4 passage, and it is so enacted.
4-5 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
4-6 Amend H.B. No. 1540 on page 3, line 3, after the period, by
4-7 inserting "A panel may not include more than one member who was
4-8 appointed to the commission by the same individual appointing
4-9 authority."
4-10 75R9922 JRD-D Gutierrez