By Nelson S.B. No. 1157
75R3342 GJH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to civil service for firefighters 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. Section 143.023, Local Government Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
1-7 (h) The commission may establish additional eligibility
1-8 requirements for a beginning position in the fire or police
1-9 department. These eligibility requirements must be the same for
1-10 all applicants and must be reasonably related to the performance
1-11 that the commission expects of fire fighters and police officers.
1-12 SECTION 2. Section 143.025(d), Local Government Code, is
1-13 amended to read as follows:
1-14 (d) Examinations for beginning positions in the fire or
1-15 police department may be held at different locations if each
1-16 applicant takes the same examination and is examined in the
1-17 presence of other applicants.
1-18 SECTION 3. Section 143.026(a), Local Government Code, is
1-19 amended to read as follows:
1-20 (a) When a vacancy occurs in a beginning position in a fire
1-21 or police department, the department head shall request in writing
1-22 from the commission the names of suitable persons from the
1-23 eligibility list. The director shall certify to the municipality's
1-24 chief executive the names of the three suitable persons having the
2-1 highest grades on the eligibility list who satisfy the eligibility
2-2 requirements of Section 143.023.
2-3 SECTION 4. Sections 143.045(b) and (c), Local Government
2-4 Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-5 (b) A fire fighter or police officer may accumulate sick
2-6 leave without limit and may use the leave if unable to work because
2-7 of a bona fide illness. If an ill fire fighter or police officer
2-8 [exhausts the sick leave and] can conclusively prove that the
2-9 illness was incurred in the performance of duties, injury [an
2-10 extension of sick] leave shall be granted under Section 143.073.
2-11 (c) Except as otherwise provided by Section 143.116, a fire
2-12 fighter or police officer who leaves the classified service for any
2-13 reason is entitled to receive in a lump-sum payment the full amount
2-14 of the person's salary for accumulated sick leave if the person has
2-15 accumulated not more than 90 days of sick leave. If a fire fighter
2-16 or police officer has accumulated more than 90 working days of sick
2-17 leave, the person's employer may limit payment to the amount that
2-18 the person would have received if the person had been allowed to
2-19 use 90 days of accumulated sick leave during the last six months of
2-20 employment. The lump-sum payment is computed by compensating the
2-21 fire fighter or police officer for the accumulated time at the
2-22 highest permanent pay classification for which the person was
2-23 eligible during the last six months of employment. The fire
2-24 fighter or police officer is paid for the same period for which the
2-25 person would have been paid if the person had taken the sick leave
2-26 but does not include additional holidays and any sick leave or
2-27 vacation time that the person might have accrued during the 90
3-1 days. A fire fighter or police officer is entitled to be paid for
3-2 accumulated sick leave described in this subsection only once for a
3-3 particular municipality regardless of the number of times the
3-4 person leaves the classified service of that municipality.
3-5 SECTION 5. Section 143.046, Local Government Code, is
3-6 amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
3-7 (d) In this section, "day" means:
3-8 (1) a 12-hour period for fire fighters whose usual
3-9 schedule consists of a continuous 24-hour work period immediately
3-10 followed by a continuous 48-hour period in which work is not
3-11 scheduled; and
3-12 (2) an eight-hour period for police officers and all
3-13 other fire fighters.
3-14 SECTION 6. Section 143.053(g), Local Government Code, is
3-15 amended to read as follows:
3-16 (g) The commission may suspend or dismiss a fire fighter or
3-17 police officer only for a violation of civil service rules or for a
3-18 conviction described by Section 143.056(g) and only after a finding
3-19 by the commission of the truth of specific charges against the fire
3-20 fighter or police officer.
3-21 SECTION 7. Section 143.054(c), Local Government Code, is
3-22 amended to read as follows:
3-23 (c) The director [commission may refuse to grant the request
3-24 for demotion. If the commission believes that probable cause
3-25 exists for ordering the demotion, the commission] shall give the
3-26 fire fighter or police officer written notice to appear before the
3-27 commission for a public hearing at a time and place specified in
4-1 the notice. The director [commission] shall give the notice before
4-2 the 10th day before the date the hearing will be held. The
4-3 commission shall grant or deny the request for demotion.
4-4 SECTION 8. Sections 143.056(a), (d), (e), and (g), Local
4-5 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
4-6 (a) If a fire fighter or police officer is indicted for a
4-7 felony or officially charged with the commission of a Class A or B
4-8 misdemeanor, the department head may temporarily suspend the person
4-9 with or without pay for a period not to exceed 30 days after the
4-10 date of final disposition of every part of the specified felony
4-11 indictment or misdemeanor complaint.
4-12 (d) A fire fighter or police officer indicted for a felony
4-13 or officially charged with the commission of a Class A or B
4-14 misdemeanor who has also been charged by the department head with
4-15 civil service violations directly related to the indictment or
4-16 complaint may delay the civil service hearing for not more than 30
4-17 days after the date of the final disposition of the indictment or
4-18 complaint, including a lesser included offense for which the
4-19 maximum punishment is greater than for a Class C misdemeanor.
4-20 (e) If the department head temporarily suspends a fire
4-21 fighter or police officer under this section and the fire fighter
4-22 or police officer is not found guilty of the indictment or
4-23 complaint or a lesser included offense within the indictment or
4-24 complaint for which the maximum punishment is greater than for a
4-25 Class C misdemeanor in a court of competent jurisdiction, the fire
4-26 fighter or police officer may appeal to the commission or to a
4-27 hearing examiner for recovery of back pay. The issue on appeal is
5-1 whether the fire fighter or police officer committed a criminal act
5-2 listed in the indictment or information. The commission or hearing
5-3 examiner may award all or part of the back pay or reject the
5-4 appeal. If the department head temporarily suspends a fire fighter
5-5 or police officer under this section and the fire fighter or police
5-6 officer is found guilty of the indictment or complaint or a lesser
5-7 included offense within the indictment or complaint for which the
5-8 maximum punishment is greater than for a Class C misdemeanor in a
5-9 court of competent jurisdiction, the fire fighter or police officer
5-10 may not appeal to the commission or to a hearing examiner for
5-11 recovery of back pay.
5-12 (g) A judgment of conviction [Conviction] of a felony is
5-13 cause for dismissal without appeal to the commission or to a
5-14 hearing examiner, and a judgment of conviction of a Class A or B
5-15 misdemeanor may be cause for disciplinary action or indefinite
5-16 suspension regardless of whether the department head has charged
5-17 the fire fighter or police officer with a civil service violation.
5-18 A judgment of conviction of a Class A or B misdemeanor is
5-19 appealable to the commission or a hearing officer.
5-20 SECTION 9. Sections 143.057(a), (b), (c), and (d), Local
5-21 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
5-22 (a) In [addition to the other notice requirements prescribed
5-23 by this chapter, the letter of disciplinary action issued to a fire
5-24 fighter or police officer must state that in] an appeal of an
5-25 indefinite suspension, a suspension, a promotional passover, or a
5-26 recommended demotion, the appealing fire fighter or police officer
5-27 may elect to appeal to an independent third party hearing examiner
6-1 instead of to the commission only if the department head also
6-2 agrees to elect to appeal to an independent third party hearing
6-3 examiner. The letter must also state that if the fire fighter or
6-4 police officer elects to appeal to a hearing examiner, the person
6-5 waives all rights to appeal to a district court except as provided
6-6 by Subsection (j).
6-7 (b) To exercise the choice of appealing to a hearing
6-8 examiner, the appealing fire fighter or police officer must submit
6-9 to the director a written request as part of the original notice of
6-10 appeal required under this chapter stating the person's decision to
6-11 appeal to an independent third party hearing examiner and a signed,
6-12 written request from the department head.
6-13 (c) The hearing examiner's decision is final and binding on
6-14 all parties. If the fire fighter or police officer and the
6-15 department head decide [decides] to appeal to an independent third
6-16 party hearing examiner, the parties [person] automatically waive
6-17 [waives] all rights to appeal to a district court except as
6-18 provided by Subsection (j).
6-19 (d) If the appealing fire fighter or police officer and the
6-20 department head choose [chooses] to appeal to a hearing examiner,
6-21 the fire fighter or police officer and the department head, or
6-22 their designees, shall first attempt to agree on the selection of
6-23 an impartial hearing examiner. If the parties do not agree on the
6-24 selection of a hearing examiner on or within 10 days after the date
6-25 the appeal is filed, the director shall immediately request a list
6-26 of seven qualified neutral arbitrators from the American
6-27 Arbitration Association or the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
7-1 Service, or their successors in function. The fire fighter or
7-2 police officer and the department head, or their designees, may
7-3 agree on one of the seven neutral arbitrators on the list. If they
7-4 do not agree within five working days after the date they received
7-5 the list, each party or the party's designee shall alternate
7-6 striking a name from the list and the name remaining is the hearing
7-7 examiner. The parties or their designees shall agree on a date for
7-8 the hearing.
7-9 SECTION 10. Section 143.081(d), Local Government Code, is
7-10 amended to read as follows:
7-11 (d) If the report of the appointed physician, psychiatrist,
7-12 or psychologist, as appropriate, disagrees with the report of the
7-13 fire fighter's or police officer's personal physician,
7-14 psychiatrist, or psychologist, as appropriate, the commission shall
7-15 appoint a three-member board composed of a physician, a
7-16 psychiatrist, and a psychologist, or any combination, as
7-17 appropriate, to examine the fire fighter or police officer. The
7-18 board's findings as to the person's fitness for duty shall
7-19 determine the issue. If at least two of the board members
7-20 determine that a fire fighter or police officer is not fit for
7-21 duty, the fire fighter's or police officer's position may be filled
7-22 if the fire fighter or police officer is paid for any sick leave to
7-23 which the fire fighter or police officer is entitled.
7-24 SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
7-25 SECTION 12. The importance of this legislation and the
7-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.