By: Lucio S.B. No. 629
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the records of an overturned disciplinary action or a
1-2 charge of misconduct against fire fighters and police officers in
1-3 certain municipalities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 143, Local Government Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Section 143.058 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 143.058. RECORDS RELATED TO DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS OR
1-8 CHARGES OF MISCONDUCT. (a) The department head shall promptly
1-9 order that the records of a disciplinary action taken against a
1-10 fire fighter or police officer be expunged from each file
1-11 maintained on the fire fighter or police officer by the department
1-12 if the disciplinary action was entirely overturned on appeal by the
1-13 commission, an independent third-party hearing examiner, or a court
1-14 of competent jurisdiction. Documents that must be expunged under
1-15 this subsection include all documents that indicate disciplinary
1-16 action was recommended or taken against the fire fighter or police
1-17 officer, such as the recommendations of a disciplinary committee or
1-18 a letter of suspension. This subsection does not apply if the fire
1-19 fighter or police officer is charged with using excessive force
1-20 that resulted in a death or injury and the charge is being
1-21 investigated by a law enforcement or criminal justice agency other
1-22 than the department.
1-23 (b) The department shall maintain an investigatory file that
2-1 relates to a disciplinary action against a fire fighter or police
2-2 officer that was overturned on appeal, or any document in the
2-3 possession of the department that relates to a charge of misconduct
2-4 against a fire fighter or police officer, regardless of whether the
2-5 charge is sustained, only in a file created by the department for
2-6 the department's use. The department may only release those
2-7 investigatory files or documents relating to a charge of
2-8 misconduct:
2-9 (1) to another law enforcement agency or fire
2-10 department; or
2-11 (2) in accordance with Subsection (c) or Section
2-12 143.089(g) or (h).
2-13 (c) The department head or the department head's designee
2-14 may forward a document that relates to disciplinary action against
2-15 a fire fighter or police officer to the director or the director's
2-16 designee for inclusion in the fire fighter's or police officer's
2-17 personnel file maintained under Sections 143.089(a)-(f) only if:
2-18 (1) disciplinary action was actually taken against the
2-19 fire fighter or police officer;
2-20 (2) the document shows the disciplinary action taken;
2-21 and
2-22 (3) the document includes at least a brief summary of
2-23 the facts on which the disciplinary action was based.
2-24 (d) The requirements of this section are in addition to the
2-25 requirements of Section 143.089. This section does not prevent a
3-1 fire fighter or police officer from obtaining access to any
3-2 personnel file maintained by the department on the fire fighter or
3-3 police officer under Section 143.089.
3-4 SECTION 2. Section 143.089, Local Government Code, is
3-5 amended by amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (h) to
3-6 read as follows:
3-7 (g) A fire or police department may maintain a personnel
3-8 file on a fire fighter or police officer employed by the department
3-9 for the department's use, but the department may not release any
3-10 information contained in the department file to any agency or
3-11 person requesting information relating to a fire fighter or police
3-12 officer other than the fire fighter or police officer to whom the
3-13 information relates. The department shall refer to the director or
3-14 the director's designee a person or agency that requests
3-15 information that is maintained in the fire fighter's or police
3-16 officer's personnel file.
3-17 (h) A file or a part of a file maintained under Subsection
3-18 (g) may be released to a party in a civil or criminal action only
3-19 if the court has determined that the particular file or part of the
3-20 file is relevant to the action and only if an application for a
3-21 protective order limiting the use that may be made of the file or
3-22 part of the file has been filed with the court. A department head
3-23 who is a party to the action, or the department head's
3-24 representative, may stipulate that the file or part of the file is
3-25 relevant to the action, but before releasing the file or part of
4-1 the file, the department head or the department head's designee
4-2 must find that an application for a protective order limiting the
4-3 use that may be made of the file or part of the file has been filed
4-4 with the court.
4-5 SECTION 3. Section 143.1214, Local Government Code, is
4-6 repealed.
4-7 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-8 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies to records
4-9 that exist on the effective date of this Act and to records that
4-10 are made on or after the effective date of this Act.
4-11 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.