1-1 By: Duncan S.B. No. 212
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 21, 1999; January 28, 1999,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
1-4 Relations; February 22, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0;
1-6 February 22, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 212 By: Moncrief
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to entrance examinations for beginning positions in the
1-11 police departments of certain municipalities.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 143.025, Local Government Code, is
1-14 amended to read as follows:
1-15 Sec. 143.025. ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS. (a) The commission
1-16 shall provide for open, competitive, and free entrance examinations
1-17 to provide eligibility lists for beginning positions in the fire
1-18 and police departments. The examinations are open to each person
1-19 who makes a proper application and meets the requirements
1-20 prescribed by this chapter.
1-21 (b) An eligibility list for a beginning position in the fire
1-22 or police department may be created only as a result of a
1-23 competitive examination held in the presence of each applicant for
1-24 the position, except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e). The
1-25 examination must be based on the person's knowledge of and
1-26 qualifications for fire fighting and work in the fire department or
1-27 for police work and work in the police department and must inquire
1-28 into the applicant's general education and mental ability. A
1-29 person may not be appointed to the fire or police department except
1-30 as a result of the examination.
1-31 (c) An applicant may not take an examination unless at least
1-32 one other applicant taking the examination is present.
1-33 (d) Examinations for beginning positions in the fire
1-34 department may be held at different locations if each applicant
1-35 takes the same examination and is examined in the presence of other
1-36 applicants.
1-37 (e) This subsection applies only in a municipality to which
1-38 Subchapter J does not apply. An examination for beginning
1-39 positions in the police department must be held at one or more
1-40 locations in the municipality in which the police department is
1-41 located and may be held at additional locations outside the
1-42 municipality. An examination held at multiple locations must be
1-43 administered on the same day and at the same time at each location
1-44 at which it is given. Only one eligibility list for a police
1-45 department may be created from that examination, and only one
1-46 eligibility list may be in effect at a given time. Each applicant
1-47 who takes the examination for the eligibility list shall:
1-48 (1) take the same examination; and
1-49 (2) be examined in the presence of other applicants
1-50 for that eligibility list.
1-51 (f) An additional five points shall be added to the
1-52 examination grade of an applicant who served in the United States
1-53 armed forces, received an honorable discharge, and made a passing
1-54 grade on the examination.
1-55 (g) [(f)] An applicant may not take the examination for a
1-56 particular eligibility list more than once.
1-57 (h) [(g)] The commission shall keep each eligibility list
1-58 for a beginning position in effect for a period of not less than
1-59 six months or more than 12 months, unless the names of all
1-60 applicants on the list have been referred to the appropriate
1-61 department. The commission shall determine the length of the
1-62 period. The commission shall give new examinations at times the
1-63 commission considers necessary to provide required staffing for
1-64 scheduled fire or police training academies.
2-1 (i) [(h)] The grade to be placed on the eligibility list for
2-2 each applicant shall be computed by adding an applicant's points
2-3 under Subsection (f) [(e)], if any, to the applicant's grade on the
2-4 written examination. Each applicant's grade on the written
2-5 examination is based on a maximum grade of 100 percent and is
2-6 determined entirely by the correctness of the applicant's answers
2-7 to the questions. The minimum passing grade on the examination is
2-8 70 percent. An applicant must pass the examination to be placed on
2-9 an eligibility list.
2-10 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-11 applies only to an entrance examination that is held on or after
2-12 the effective date of this Act. An entrance examination that is
2-13 held before the effective date of this Act and an eligibility list
2-14 created from that examination is governed by the law in effect on
2-15 the day the examination was held, and the former law is continued
2-16 in effect for that purpose.
2-17 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-22 * * * * *