1-1     By:  Barrientos                                        S.B. No. 961
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 5, 1999; March 9, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
 1-4     Relations; April 22, 1999, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 3, Nays 0; April 22, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to conditions of employment for peace officers and
 1-9     detention officers employed by certain sheriff's departments.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 158, Local Government Code,
1-12     is amended by adding Section 158.041 to read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 158.041.  EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN SHERIFF'S
1-14     DEPARTMENTS.  (a)  This section does not apply to a county with a
1-15     population of more than one million or to a county that has adopted
1-16     Chapter 174.
1-17           (b)  In this section:
1-18                 (1)  "Association" means an organization in which peace
1-19     officers and detention officers employed by the sheriff's
1-20     department participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or
1-21     in part, of dealing with the county concerning grievances, labor
1-22     disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions
1-23     of work affecting the peace officers and detention officers.
1-24                 (2)  "Public employer" means the sheriff, county, or
1-25     any agency, board, or commission controlled by the county that is
1-26     required to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours,
1-27     working conditions, and other terms and conditions of employment of
1-28     peace officers and detention officers employed by the sheriff's
1-29     department.
1-30           (c)  A county may not be denied local control over wages,
1-31     salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, other terms and conditions
1-32     of employment, or other personnel issues on which the public
1-33     employer and an association that is recognized as the sole and
1-34     exclusive bargaining agent for all peace officers and detention
1-35     officers employed by the sheriff's department agree.  A term or
1-36     condition of employment on which the public employer and the
1-37     association do not agree is governed by applicable statutes, local
1-38     ordinances, and civil service rules.  An agreement must be reduced
1-39     to writing.  This section does not require the public employer and
1-40     the association to meet and confer or reach an agreement on any
1-41     issue.
1-42           (d)  A public employer and an association recognized under
1-43     this section as a sole and exclusive bargaining agent may meet and
1-44     confer only if the association does not advocate the illegal right
1-45     to strike by public employees.
1-46           (e)  A peace officer or detention officer of a sheriff's
1-47     department may not engage in a strike or organized work stoppage
1-48     against this state or a political subdivision of this state.  A
1-49     peace officer or detention officer who participates in a strike
1-50     forfeits all civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other
1-51     rights, benefits, or privileges the peace officer or detention
1-52     officer enjoys as a result of the person's employment or previous
1-53     employment with the sheriff's department.  This subsection does not
1-54     affect the right of a person to cease employment if the person is
1-55     not acting in concert with peace officers or detention officers.
1-56           (f)  The public employer may recognize an association that
1-57     submits a petition signed by a majority of the paid peace officers
1-58     and detention officers of the sheriff's department, excluding
1-59     exempt employees, as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for
1-60     all of the covered peace officers and detention officers unless
1-61     recognition of the association is withdrawn by a majority of the
1-62     covered peace officers and detention officers.
1-63           (g)  A question of whether an association is the majority
1-64     representative of the covered peace officers and detention officers
 2-1     shall be resolved by a fair election conducted according to
 2-2     procedures agreed on by the parties.  If the parties are unable to
 2-3     agree on election procedures, either party may request the American
 2-4     Arbitration Association to conduct the election and to certify the
 2-5     results.  Certification of the results of an election under this
 2-6     subsection resolves the question concerning representation.  The
 2-7     association shall pay the costs of the election, except that if two
 2-8     or more associations seeking recognition as the bargaining agent
 2-9     submit petitions signed by a majority of the peace officers and
2-10     detention officers, the associations shall share equally the costs
2-11     of the election.
2-12           (h)  The public employer's chief executive or his designee
2-13     shall select a team to represent the public employer as its sole
2-14     and exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the employment
2-15     of peace officers and detention officers by the sheriff's
2-16     department.
2-17           (i)  An agreement made under this section is a public record
2-18     for purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code.  The agreement and
2-19     any document prepared and used by the sheriff's department in
2-20     connection with the agreement are available to the public under the
2-21     public information law, Chapter 552, Government Code, only after
2-22     the agreement is ratified by the governing body of the county.
2-23     This section does not affect the application of Subchapter C,
2-24     Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared and used by
2-25     the sheriff's department in connection with the agreement.
2-26           (j)  A written agreement made under this section between a
2-27     public employer and an association is binding on the public
2-28     employer, the association, and peace officers and detention
2-29     officers covered by the agreement if:
2-30                 (1)  the county's governing body ratifies the agreement
2-31     by a majority vote; and
2-32                 (2)  the applicable association ratifies the agreement
2-33     by a majority vote of its members by secret ballot.
2-34           (k)  An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (j) may
2-35     establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
2-36     disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
2-37     agreement, including binding arbitration on interpretation of the
2-38     agreement.
2-39           (l)  The district court of the judicial district in which the
2-40     county is located has full authority and jurisdiction on the
2-41     application of either party aggrieved by an act or omission of the
2-42     other party related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by a
2-43     written agreement ratified as provided by this section.  The court
2-44     may issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
2-45     injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including a
2-46     contempt order, that is appropriate to enforce the agreement.
2-47           (m)  An agreement under this section supersedes a previous
2-48     statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or
2-49     other terms and conditions of employment to the extent of any
2-50     conflict with the statute.
2-51           (n)  An agreement under this section preempts any contrary
2-52     statute, executive order, local ordinance, or rule adopted by the
2-53     state or a political subdivision or agent of the state, including a
2-54     personnel board, a civil service commission, or a county.
2-55           (o)  An agreement under this section may not diminish or
2-56     qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
2-57     chapter or other law unless approved by a majority vote by secret
2-58     ballot of the members of the association recognized as a sole and
2-59     exclusive bargaining agent.
2-60           (p)  An agreement may not interfere with the right of a
2-61     member of a bargaining unit to pursue allegations of discrimination
2-62     based on race, creed, color, national origin, religion, age, sex,
2-63     or disability with the Commission on Human Rights or the Equal
2-64     Employment Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action
2-65     litigation.
2-66           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-67           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-68     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-69     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-1     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-2     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 3-3     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 3-4     passage, and it is so enacted.
 3-5                                  * * * * *