76R6690 KLA-D
By Siebert H.B. No. 1280
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1280:
By Hill C.S.H.B. No. 1280
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to entrance examinations for beginning positions in the
1-3 police departments of certain municipalities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 143.025, Local Government Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 143.025. ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS. (a) The commission
1-8 shall provide for open, competitive, and free entrance examinations
1-9 to provide eligibility lists for beginning positions in the fire
1-10 and police departments. The examinations are open to each person
1-11 who makes a proper application and meets the requirements
1-12 prescribed by this chapter.
1-13 (b) An eligibility list for a beginning position in the fire
1-14 or police department may be created only as a result of a
1-15 competitive examination held in the presence of each applicant for
1-16 the position, except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e). The
1-17 examination must be based on the person's knowledge of and
1-18 qualifications for fire fighting and work in the fire department or
1-19 for police work and work in the police department and must inquire
1-20 into the applicant's general education and mental ability. A
1-21 person may not be appointed to the fire or police department except
1-22 as a result of the examination.
1-23 (c) An applicant may not take an examination unless at least
1-24 one other applicant taking the examination is present.
2-1 (d) Examinations for beginning positions in the fire
2-2 department may be held at different locations if each applicant
2-3 takes the same examination and is examined in the presence of other
2-4 applicants.
2-5 (e) This subsection applies only in a municipality to which
2-6 Subchapter J does not apply. An examination for beginning positions
2-7 in the police department must be held at one or more locations in
2-8 the municipality in which the police department is located and may
2-9 be held at additional locations outside of the municipality. An
2-10 examination held at multiple locations must be administered on the
2-11 same day and at the same time at each location at which it is
2-12 given. Only one eligibility list for a police department may be
2-13 created from that examination, and only one eligibility list may be
2-14 in effect at a given time. Each applicant who takes the
2-15 examination for the eligibility list shall:
2-16 (1) take the same examination; and
2-17 (2) be examined in the presence of other applicants
2-18 for that eligibility list.
2-19 (f) An additional five points shall be added to the
2-20 examination grade of an applicant who served in the United States
2-21 armed forces, received an honorable discharge, and made a passing
2-22 grade on the examination.
2-23 (g) [(f)] An applicant may not take the examination for a
2-24 particular eligibility list more than once.
2-25 (h) [(g)] The commission shall keep each eligibility list
2-26 for a beginning position in effect for a period of not less than
2-27 six months or more than 12 months, unless the names of all
3-1 applicants on the list have been referred to the appropriate
3-2 department. The commission shall determine the length of the
3-3 period. The commission shall give new examinations at times the
3-4 commission considers necessary to provide required staffing for
3-5 scheduled fire or police training academies.
3-6 (i) [(h)] The grade to be placed on the eligibility list for
3-7 each applicant shall be computed by adding an applicant's points
3-8 under Subsection (f) [(e)], if any, to the applicant's grade on the
3-9 written examination. Each applicant's grade on the written
3-10 examination is based on a maximum grade of 100 percent and is
3-11 determined entirely by the correctness of the applicant's answers
3-12 to the questions. The minimum passing grade on the examination is
3-13 70 percent. An applicant must pass the examination to be placed on
3-14 an eligibility list.
3-15 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
3-16 applies only to an entrance examination that is held on or after
3-17 the effective date of this Act. An entrance examination that is
3-18 held before the effective date of this Act and an eligibility list
3-19 created from that examination is governed by the law in effect on
3-20 the day the examination was held, and the former law is continued
3-21 in effect for that purpose.
3-22 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.