HBA-MPA H.B. 2971 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2971 By: Staples County Affairs 4/11/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, a person may be appointed as a county jailer on a temporary basis as long as the person completes a preparatory program of training in the operation of a county jail within one year after the date that the person is originally appointed. The limited resources of many counties make temporary jailers an attractive alternative. However, there is an expense in sending the temporary jailers to the required classes and the time involved in attending classes often restricts the temporary jailers from becoming certified so that their employment may continue beyond the first year. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division (TDCJ-ID) facilities train correctional officers to prepare them for their jobs guarding prison inmates. TDCJ-ID training is longer and more intensive to deal with this prisoner population. Many counties would like to utilize correctional officers as part-time, temporary jailers but the hours of classtime required can take away from the correctional officer's primary job and often they do not continue as temporary jailers for this reason. Because correctional officers are trained and certified to deal with incarcerated individuals the sheriff's department would benefit greatly from these individuals, who are already qualified under a different law enforcement standard. H.B. 2971 allows TDCJ-ID and state jail division trained and certified correctional officers to be exempt from the training requirements when seeking part-time employment as a county jailer. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 415.054, Government Code, by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d), to provide that a person trained and certified by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to serve as a corrections officer in that agency's institutional or state jail division is not required to complete the training requirements under this section (Appointment of County Jailer) and is not required to be licensed under Section 415.051 (Appointment; License Requirement) to be appointed a part-time jailer. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.