By Hunter H.B. No. 2511
75R7090 GJH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to an alternate selection system for filling beginning
1-3 positions in police departments.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 143.021(c), Local Government Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (c) Except as provided by Sections 143.013, 143.014,
1-8 143.0251, 143.102, and 143.1251, an existing position or
1-9 classification or a position or classification created in the
1-10 future either by name or by increase in salary may be filled only
1-11 from an eligibility list that results from an examination held or
1-12 from the application of other criteria established in accordance
1-13 with this chapter.
1-14 SECTION 2. Section 143.025(b), Local Government Code, is
1-15 amended to read as follows:
1-16 (b) Unless a police department uses an alternate selection
1-17 system adopted under Section 143.0265, an [An] eligibility list for
1-18 a beginning position in the fire or police department may be
1-19 created only as a result of a competitive examination held in the
1-20 presence of each applicant for the position. The examination must
1-21 be based on the person's knowledge of and qualifications for fire
1-22 fighting and work in the fire department or for police work and
1-23 work in the police department and must inquire into the applicant's
1-24 general education and mental ability. A person may not be
2-1 appointed to the fire or police department except as a result of
2-2 the examination or as a result of a police department's use of an
2-3 alternate selection system adopted under Section 143.0265.
2-4 SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 143, Local Government Code,
2-5 is amended by adding Section 143.0265 to read as follows:
2-6 Sec. 143.0265. ALTERNATE SELECTION SYSTEM FOR FILLING
2-7 BEGINNING POSITIONS IN POLICE DEPARTMENT. (a) On the
2-8 recommendation of the head of the police department and a majority
2-9 vote of the sworn police officers in the department, the commission
2-10 may adopt an alternate selection system for filling beginning
2-11 positions in the police department.
2-12 (b) The commission may order the director to conduct an
2-13 election and to submit the revised selection system to all sworn
2-14 police officers in the department.
2-15 (c) The director shall hold an election on or after the 30th
2-16 day after the date that notice of the election is posted at the
2-17 department. The election shall be conducted throughout each
2-18 regular work shift at an accessible location within the department
2-19 during a 24-hour period.
2-20 (d) The ballot shall contain the specific amendment to the
2-21 selection procedure. Each sworn police officer shall be given the
2-22 opportunity to vote by secret ballot for or against the amendment.
2-23 (e) The revised selection system must be approved by a
2-24 majority vote of the sworn police officers voting. A defeated
2-25 selection system amendment may not be placed on a ballot for a vote
2-26 by the sworn officers for at least 12 months after the date the
2-27 prior election was held, but this provision does not apply if the
3-1 head of the department recommends a different proposal to the
3-2 commission.
3-3 (f) The commission shall canvass the votes within 30 days
3-4 after the date that the election is held. An appeal alleging
3-5 election irregularity must be filed with the commission within five
3-6 working days after the date the election closes. If approved by
3-7 the sworn police officers, the selection system amendment becomes
3-8 effective after all election disputes have been ruled on and the
3-9 election votes have been canvassed by the commission.
3-10 (g) In departments in which a collective bargaining
3-11 agreement exists, the alternate selection system must be approved
3-12 by the collective bargaining agent or entity representing the sworn
3-13 officers of the department.
3-14 (h) The alternate selection system shall be based on
3-15 criteria designed to measure a person's fitness for the position.
3-16 Applicants for beginning positions must meet the requirements under
3-17 Sections 143.021, 143.022, and 143.023.
3-18 (i) An eligibility list for a beginning position in the
3-19 police department may be created as a result of evaluating and
3-20 scoring applicants in a combination of job-related processes,
3-21 dimensions, or exercises. A department that adopts the alternate
3-22 selection system will specify in writing information about the
3-23 development, job-relatedness, administration, scoring, and
3-24 interpretation of all elements used to determine placement on the
3-25 eligibility list. Graded dimensions may include written exams,
3-26 oral interviews, physical assessments, education, military service,
3-27 and other dimensions as determined by the hiring agency to ensure
4-1 that candidates are evaluated by a selection process that measures
4-2 traits or characteristics that are a significant part of the job.
4-3 (j) At any time after an alternate selection system has been
4-4 adopted under this section and has been in effect for at least 180
4-5 days, the department head may petition the commission to terminate
4-6 the alternate selection system, and after receiving the petition,
4-7 the commission shall terminate the alternate system.
4-8 (k) If the alternate system is terminated, an additional
4-9 list may not be created under the alternate system.
4-10 (l) An existing eligibility list, whether created under the
4-11 system prescribed by this chapter or created under an alternate
4-12 system adopted under this section, may not be terminated before or
4-13 extended beyond its expiration date. A person selected under an
4-14 alternate system has the same rights and the same status as a
4-15 person selected under other provisions of this chapter even if the
4-16 alternate system is later terminated.
4-17 SECTION 4. Section 143.037, Local Government Code, is
4-18 amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
4-19 (e) If a person is certified and appointed to a beginning
4-20 position in a department that has adopted an alternate selection
4-21 system under Section 143.0265, the director shall include in the
4-22 record required by this section any applicable information
4-23 described by Subsection (b) and any necessary information regarding
4-24 criteria applied to a person under the alternate system.
4-25 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-1 constitutional rule requiring that bills be read on three several
5-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-4 passage, and it is so enacted.