By Talton H.B. No. 3376
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to fire and police department records concerning charges
1-3 of misconduct and disciplinary actions in certain municipalities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 143.1214, Local Government Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 143.1214. RECORDS CONCERNING CHARGES OF MISCONDUCT AND
1-8 [OF OVERTURNED] DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS [ACTION OR UNSUSTAINED
1-9 COMPLAINT]. (a) The Human Resources Director [department head]
1-10 promptly shall order that the records of a disciplinary action that
1-11 was taken against a fire fighter or police officer be expunged from
1-12 each file maintained on a fire fighter or police officer by the
1-13 department if the disciplinary action was overturned in its
1-14 entirety on appeal by the commission, an independent third-party
1-15 hearing examiner, or court of competent jurisdiction. Documents
1-16 that must be expunged under this section include all documents that
1-17 indicate disciplinary action was recommended or taken against the
1-18 fire fighter or police officer, such as the recommendations of a
1-19 disciplinary committee or a letter of suspension. This subsection
1-20 does not apply [if the disciplinary action was only reduced and not
1-21 overturned not shall this subsection apply] if the firefighter or
2-1 police officer is charged with excessive force that results in a
2-2 death or injury and the charge is being investigated by a law
2-3 enforcement or criminal justice agency other than the department.
2-4 Nothing contained herein shall require that the Internal Affairs
2-5 Division records be expunged under any circumstances.
2-6 (b) The department shall maintain an investigatory file
2-7 [document] that relates to a disciplinary action against a fire
2-8 fighter or police officer that was overturned on appeal, or any
2-9 document in the possession of the department that relates to a
2-10 charge of misconduct against a fire fighter or police officer,
2-11 whether sustained or not [that the department did not sustain],
2-12 only in a file created by the department for the department's use.
2-13 The department may [not] release information from such
2-14 investigatory files only as set out in Subsections (c) and (d)
2-15 [these documents to any agency or other person] except that the
2-16 department may release information from such investigatory files to
2-17 another law enforcement [or] fire department or District or U.S.
2-18 Attorney's Office.
2-19 (c) Only documents setting out discipline actually received
2-20 shall be forwarded by the department head to the personnel file
2-21 maintained by the director. Such documents shall include a brief
2-22 summary of the facts on which the discipline was based. An
2-23 investigatory file maintained pursuant to subsection (b) shall not
2-24 be released to any agency or person except another law enforcement
2-25 agency, fire department or District or U.S. Attorney's Office.
3-1 (d) In any cause of action, civil or criminal, no file, or
3-2 any part thereof maintained pursuant to Section 143.089 (g) shall
3-3 be released to any party to the action until relevancy is
3-4 judicially determined and the application for a protective order
3-5 limiting the use of such file in that cause of action has been
3-6 filed. Prior to the release of a department file, the Human
3-7 Resources Director shall ascertain that an application for a
3-8 protective order limiting the use of the record to the immediate
3-9 litigation has been filed each time such a file is sought in a
3-10 civil or criminal action.
3-11 (i) The City of Houston legal department,
3-12 or its designee, shall be responsible for all legal representation
3-13 related to the preparation, filing and prosecution of any order
3-14 required to carry out the purpose of this section.
3-15 (ii) Nothing herein shall prevent the
3-16 department from releasing any departmental files to a law
3-17 enforcement agency, fire department, or District or U.S.
3-18 Attorney's Office as currently provided by subsection (b) above.
3-19 (c) With the Exception of Internal Affairs Division files,
3-20 nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an officer
3-21 from having access to his/her personnel file maintained anywhere by
3-22 the department.
3-23 (f) A Supervisory Intervention (SI) or Policy/Procedural
3-24 Inquiry (PPI) shall be non-punitive and is not to be considered as
3-25 any form or manner of discipline. It is intended to correct or
4-1 modify actions/behavior through positive encouragement, counseling,
4-2 training, or reeducation. It is not intended to punish or harm a
4-3 [fire fighter or] police officer in any way. As a result, an SI or
4-4 PPI may result in one or more counselings, and/or training, and/or
4-5 repeat task performance, classes or exercises. Since and SI or PPI
4-6 is not discipline, it is not grieveable nor appealable.
4-7 Documentation of an SI or PPI, except for departmental computer
4-8 tracking information, shall be retained exclusively at the
4-9 divisional level in the employee's divisional file, and used for
4-10 evaluating the [fire fighter's or] police officer's performance
4-11 during that evaluation period. An SI or PPI may not be used in any
4-12 other evaluation period. The documentation relating to an SI or
4-13 PPI shall not be placed in the departmental file nor the [fire
4-14 fighter's or] police officer's official file at the Human Resources
4-15 Department.
4-16 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-17 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.