By: Gallegos S.B. No. 1783
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to police department mediation in certain municipalities
1-2 and its effect on time schedules for appeals.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 143.135, Local Government Code, is added
1-5 to read as follows:
1-6 Section 143.135. Mediation and its Effect on Time Schedules
1-7 for Appeals.
1-8 (a) The police department head shall have the authority to
1-9 develop and implement an alternative means of resolution of police
1-10 officer discipline and training through a program of mediation. In
1-11 order to retain the benefits of such an effective alternative
1-12 approach, all timing dates and deadlines for (i) the imposition of
1-13 discipline under Section 143.117 and Section 143.119; (ii) appeals
1-14 under Section 143.120, Section 143.127, Section 143.134, and
1-15 Section 143.1016; and (iii) appeals to the Civil Service Commission
1-16 under Section 143.1015 shall be tolled for the period of time from
1-17 the date the matter is received by the alternative dispute
1-18 resolution unit until its completion with or without a written
1-19 resolution, or its referral to another investigatory/grievance
1-20 process, but no more than 60 days, whichever occurs first. All
1-21 other time frames and deadlines remain unchanged as required by
1-22 this Chapter.
2-1 (b) All mediations shall be conducted in accordance with
2-2 State law and police department rules and guidelines. Accordingly,
2-3 all communications, records, conduct, and demeanor of the mediator
2-4 or the parties are confidential.
2-5 (1) Any letter, memorandum, document, notes or other
2-6 communications (oral or written) relevant to the dispute, made
2-7 between the mediator and the parties to the dispute, or between the
2-8 parties to the dispute during the course of the mediation procedure
2-9 are confidential and may not be disclosed unless (i) all parties to
2-10 the dispute consent in writing to the disclosure, or (ii) the
2-11 communication is an admission made directly to the mediator by a
2-12 party to the dispute of criminal activity committed by the party
2-13 making the admission.
2-14 (2) Any letter, memorandum, document, notes or other
2-15 communications (oral or written) relevant to and made during the
2-16 course of the mediation procedure are admissible and discoverable
2-17 in another separate proceeding only if they are admissible and
2-18 discoverable independent of the mediation. If this subsection
2-19 conflicts with other legal requirements for disclosure of
2-20 communications or materials, the issue of confidentiality may be
2-21 presented to a court having jurisdiction over the proceedings to
2-22 determine, in camera, whether the facts, circumstances, and context
2-23 of the communications or materials sought to be disclosed warrant a
2-24 protective order of the court or whether the communications or
2-25 materials are subject to disclosure.
2-26 (3) With the exception set out in (b)(1)(ii) of this
3-1 subsection, a mediator may not be required to testify in a
3-2 proceeding concerning information relating to or arising out of the
3-3 mediation.
3-4 (4) With the exception set out in Section 2008.053 of
3-5 the Government Code, all mediations that are resolved to a final
3-6 agreement will be confidential to the extent allowed by law.
3-7 (c) from the inception through actual mediation, all
3-8 meetings or other procedures are exempt from the 48 hours or other
3-9 notice requirements mandated by this Chapter.
3-10 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-11 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.