By Barrientos S.B. No. 961
76R7667 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to conditions of employment for peace officers and
1-3 detention officers employed by certain sheriff departments.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 158, Subchapter B, Local Government Code
1-6 is amended by adding Section 158.041 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 158.041. EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN SHERIFF
1-8 DEPARTMENTS. (a) This section does not apply to a county with a
1-9 population of more than 1 million or to a county that has adopted
1-10 Chapter 174, Local Government Code.
1-11 (b) In this section:
1-12 (1) "Association" means an organization in which peace
1-13 officers and detention officers employed by the sheriff's
1-14 department participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or
1-15 in part, of dealing with the county concerning grievances, labor
1-16 disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions
1-17 of work affecting the peace officers and detention officers.
1-18 (2) "Public employer" means the sheriff, county or any
1-19 agency, board, or commission controlled by the county that is
1-20 required to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours,
1-21 working conditions, and other terms and conditions of employment of
1-22 peace officers and detention officers employed by the sheriff's
1-23 department.
1-24 (c) A county may not be denied local control over wages,
2-1 salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, other terms and conditions
2-2 of employment, or other personnel issues on which the public
2-3 employer and an association that is recognized as the sole and
2-4 exclusive bargaining agent for all peace officers and detention
2-5 officers employed by the sheriff's department agree. A term or
2-6 condition of employment on which the public employer and the
2-7 association do not agree is governed by applicable statutes, local
2-8 ordinances, and civil service rules. An agreement must be reduced
2-9 to writing. This section does not require the public employer and
2-10 the association to meet and confer or reach an agreement on any
2-11 issue.
2-12 (d) A public employer and an association recognized under
2-13 this section as a sole and exclusive bargaining agent may meet and
2-14 confer only if the association does not advocate the illegal right
2-15 to strike by public employees.
2-16 (e) A peace officer or detention officer of a sheriff's
2-17 department may not engage in a strike or organized work stoppage
2-18 against this state or a political subdivision of this state. A
2-19 peace officer or detention officer who participates in a strike
2-20 forfeits all civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other
2-21 rights, benefits, or privileges the peace officer or detention
2-22 officer enjoys as a result of the person's employment or previous
2-23 employment with the sheriff's department. This subsection does not
2-24 affect the right of a person to cease employment if the person is
2-25 not acting in concert with peace officers or detention officers.
2-26 (f) The public employer may recognize an association that
2-27 submits a petition signed by a majority of the paid peace officers
3-1 and detention officers of the sheriff's department, excluding
3-2 exempt employees, as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for
3-3 all of the covered peace officers and detention officers unless
3-4 recognition of the association is withdrawn by a majority of the
3-5 covered peace officers and detention officers.
3-6 (g) A question of whether an association is the majority
3-7 representative of the covered peace officers and detention officers
3-8 shall be resolved by a fair election conducted according to
3-9 procedures agreed on by the parties. If the parties are unable to
3-10 agree on election procedures, either party may request the American
3-11 Arbitration Association to conduct the election and to certify the
3-12 results. Certification of the results of an election under this
3-13 subsection resolves the question concerning representation. The
3-14 association shall pay the costs of the election, except that if two
3-15 or more associations seeking recognition as the bargaining agent
3-16 submit petitions signed by a majority of the peace officers and
3-17 detention officers, the associations shall share equally the costs
3-18 of the election.
3-19 (h) The public employer's chief executive or his designee
3-20 shall select a team to represent the public employer as its sole
3-21 and exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the employment
3-22 of peace officers and detention officers by the sheriff's
3-23 department.
3-24 (i) An agreement made under this section is a public record
3-25 for purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code. The agreement and
3-26 any document prepared and used by the sheriff's department in
3-27 connection with the agreement are available to the public under the
4-1 open records law, Chapter 552, Government Code, only after the
4-2 agreement is ratified by the governing body of the county. This
4-3 section does not affect the application of Subchapter C, Chapter
4-4 552, Government Code, to a document prepared and used by the
4-5 sheriff's department in connection with the agreement.
4-6 (j) A written agreement made under this section between a
4-7 public employer and an association is binding on the public
4-8 employer, the association, and peace officers and detention
4-9 officers covered by the agreement if:
4-10 (1) the county's governing body ratifies the agreement
4-11 by a majority vote; and
4-12 (2) the applicable association ratifies the agreement
4-13 by a majority vote of its members by secret ballot.
4-14 (k) An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (j) may
4-15 establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
4-16 disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
4-17 agreement, including binding arbitration on interpretation of the
4-18 agreement.
4-19 (l) The district court of the judicial district in which the
4-20 county is located has full authority and jurisdiction on the
4-21 application of either party aggrieved by an act or omission of the
4-22 other party related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by a
4-23 written agreement ratified as provided by this section. The court
4-24 may issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
4-25 injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including a
4-26 contempt order, that is appropriate to enforce the agreement.
4-27 (m) An agreement under this section supersedes a previous
5-1 statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or
5-2 other terms and conditions of employment to the extent of any
5-3 conflict with the statute.
5-4 (n) An agreement under this section preempts any contrary
5-5 statute, executive order, local ordinance, or rule adopted by the
5-6 state or a political subdivision or agent of the state, including a
5-7 personnel board, a civil service commission, or a county.
5-8 (o) An agreement under this section may not diminish or
5-9 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
5-10 chapter or other law unless approved by a majority vote by secret
5-11 ballot of the members of the association recognized as a sole and
5-12 exclusive bargaining agent.
5-13 (p) An agreement may not interfere with the right of a
5-14 member of a bargaining unit to pursue allegations of discrimination
5-15 based on race, creed, color, national origin, religion, age, sex,
5-16 or disability with the Commission on Human Rights or the Equal
5-17 Employment Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action
5-18 litigation.
5-19 SECTION 2. This act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-20 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-25 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-26 passage, and it is so enacted.