1-1     By:  Whitmire                                         S.B. No. 1134

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 11, 1997; March 13, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental

 1-4     Relations; March 24, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable

 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0;

 1-6     March 24, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1134                By:  Whitmire

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to fire and police department records concerning charges

1-11     of misconduct and disciplinary actions in certain municipalities.

1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-13           SECTION 1.  Section 143.1214, Local Government Code, is

1-14     amended to read as follows:

1-15           Sec. 143.1214.  RECORDS CONCERNING CHARGES OF MISCONDUCT AND

1-16     [OF OVERTURNED] DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS [ACTION OR UNSUSTAINED

1-17     COMPLAINT].  (a)  The department head promptly shall order that the

1-18     records of a disciplinary action that was taken against a fire

1-19     fighter or police officer be expunged from each file maintained on

1-20     the fire fighter or police officer by the department if the

1-21     disciplinary action was overturned in its entirety on appeal by the

1-22     commission, an independent third-party hearing examiner, or a court

1-23     of competent jurisdiction.  Documents that must be expunged under

1-24     this subsection include all documents that indicate disciplinary

1-25     action was recommended or taken against the fire fighter or police

1-26     officer, such as the recommendations of a disciplinary committee or

1-27     a letter of suspension.  This subsection does not apply [if the

1-28     disciplinary action was only reduced and not overturned nor shall

1-29     this subsection apply] if the fire fighter or police officer is

1-30     charged with excessive force that results in a death or injury and

1-31     the charge is being investigated by a law enforcement or criminal

1-32     justice agency other than the department.

1-33           (b)  The department shall maintain an investigatory file

1-34     [document] that relates to a disciplinary action against a fire

1-35     fighter or police officer that was overturned on appeal, or any

1-36     document in the possession of the department that relates to a

1-37     charge of misconduct against a fire fighter or police officer,

1-38     whether sustained or not [that the department did not sustain],

1-39     only in a file created by the department for the department's use.

1-40     The department may [not] release information from such

1-41     investigatory files only as set out in Subsections (c) and (d)

1-42     [those documents to any agency or other person] except that the

1-43     department may release information from such investigatory files to

1-44     another law enforcement agency or fire department.

1-45           (c)  Only documents setting out discipline actually received

1-46     shall be forwarded by the department head to the personnel file

1-47     maintained by the director.  Such documents shall include a brief

1-48     summary of the facts on which the discipline was based.  An

1-49     investigatory file maintained pursuant to Subsection (b) shall not

1-50     be released to any agency or other person except another law

1-51     enforcement agency or fire department.

1-52           (d)  In any cause of action, civil or criminal, no file, or

1-53     any part thereof, maintained pursuant to Section 143.089(g) shall

1-54     be released to any party to the action until relevancy is

1-55     judicially determined and an application for a protective order

1-56     limiting the use of such file in that cause of action has been

1-57     filed.  The department head or the department head's designee may

1-58     stipulate that a file is relevant; however, prior to any release of

1-59     a department file, the department head shall ascertain that an

1-60     application for a protective order limiting the use of the records

1-61     to the immediate litigation has been filed each time such file is

1-62     sought in a civil or criminal action.

1-63           (e)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a

1-64     fire fighter or police officer from having access to any personnel

 2-1     file maintained by the department on the fire fighter or police

 2-2     officer pursuant to Section 143.089.

 2-3           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 2-4           (b)  The change in law made by this Act applies to records in

 2-5     existence on the effective date of this Act and to records made on

 2-6     or after the effective date of this Act.

 2-7           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 2-8     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 2-9     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-10     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-11     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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