1-1     By:  Yarbrough (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire)            H.B. No. 1540

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 1997;

 1-3     May 6, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; May 15, 1997, reported favorably by

 1-5     the following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 15, 1997, sent to

 1-6     printer.)

 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-8                                   AN ACT

 1-9     relating to the sheriff's department civil service system in

1-10     certain counties.

1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-12           SECTION 1.   Section 158.034, Local Government Code, is

1-13     amended to read as follows:

1-14           Sec. 158.034.  APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSION.  (a)  In a county

1-15     with a population of less than 2.8 million, if [If] a majority of

1-16     the employees voting at the election approve  the creation of a

1-17     sheriff's department civil service system, the sheriff,

1-18     commissioners court, and district attorney shall each appoint one

1-19     person to serve as a member of the civil service commission that

1-20     administers the system.  In a county with a population of 2.8

1-21     million or more, if a majority of the employees voting at the

1-22     election approve the creation of a sheriff's department civil

1-23     service system, the sheriff, commissioners court, and district

1-24     attorney shall each appoint two persons to serve as members of the

1-25     civil service commission that administers the system, and the three

1-26     appointing authorities shall appoint one member by joint action

1-27     requiring the affirmative vote of each of the authorities.

1-28           (b)  The sheriff shall designate one of the members as

1-29     chairman of the commission.

1-30           (c) [(b)]  Each member of the commission is appointed for a

1-31     term of two years.  However, the initial members of the commission

1-32     in a county with a population of less than 2.8 million shall

1-33     determine by lot which  two of them will serve a term of two years

1-34     and which one of them will serve a term of one year. In a county

1-35     with a population of 2.8 million or more:

1-36                 (1)  the initial member appointed jointly under

1-37     Subsection (a) serves a term of two years; and

1-38                 (2)  the initial members appointed by each individual

1-39     appointing authority shall determine by lot which one of the two

1-40     initial members appointed by the appointing authority will serve a

1-41     term of two years and which initial member appointed by that

1-42     authority will serve a term of one year.

1-43           (d) [(c)]  The entity that appointed a member of the

1-44     commission whose position becomes vacant shall appoint a person to

1-45     serve the unexpired part of the member's term.

1-46           (e) [(d)]  To be eligible for appointment to the commission,

1-47     a person must:

1-48                 (1)  be at least 25 years old; and

1-49                 (2)  have resided in the county for the three years

1-50     immediately preceding the date on which the person's term will

1-51     begin.

1-52           SECTION 2.  Section 158.035(c), Local Government Code, is

1-53     amended to read as follows:

1-54           (c)  In a county with a population of 2.8 million or more, a

1-55     panel of [at least] three commissioners shall preside at the

1-56     hearing  and vote on the commission's final decision in any case

1-57     involving termination, demotion, or recovery of back pay. A panel's

1-58     decision is the final decision of the commission for purposes of

1-59     Sections 158.0351 and 158.037. The commission shall adopt rules

1-60     prescribing the commission's procedures for assigning members to a

1-61     panel.  A panel may not include more than one member who was

1-62     appointed to the commission by the same individual appointing

1-63     authority.

1-64           SECTION 3.  Notwithstanding Section 158.034(b), Local

 2-1     Government Code, as amended by this Act, in a county with a

 2-2     population of 2.8 million or more that established a sheriff's

 2-3     department civil service system before the effective date of this

 2-4     Act:

 2-5                 (1)  the term of each of the three members of the

 2-6     commission serving immediately before the effective date of this

 2-7     Act continues in effect for the full two years provided by law;

 2-8                 (2)  as soon as possible after the effective date of

 2-9     this Act, the sheriff, commissioners court, and district attorney

2-10     shall jointly appoint one member of the commission for an initial

2-11     term of more than one year but not more than two years that expires

2-12     on the date that the term of a member of the commission serving

2-13     immediately before the effective date of this Act expires; and

2-14                 (3)  as soon as possible after the effective date of

2-15     this Act, the sheriff, commissioners court, and district attorney

2-16     shall each appoint one member for a term that expires on the next

2-17     date that the term of a member of the commission serving

2-18     immediately before the effective date of this Act expires that is

2-19     not also the date that the current term to which the appointing

2-20     authority already appoints a member expires.

2-21           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-22     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-23     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-24     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-25     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

2-26     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

2-27     passage, and it is so enacted.

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