By Noriega H.B. No. 926
77R3022 KSD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to local control of police officer employment matters in
1-3 certain municipalities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 143, Local Government Code, is amended by
1-6 adding Subchapter K to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER K. LOCAL CONTROL OF POLICE OFFICER
1-8 EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES
1-9 Sec. 143.401. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
1-10 to a municipality with a population of 100,000 or more the majority
1-11 of the territory of which is located in a county with a population
1-12 of 2.8 million or more.
1-13 Sec. 143.402. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-14 (1) "Bargaining agent" means the police employee group
1-15 selected under Section 143.404 to represent all police officers
1-16 employed by the municipality, excluding the department head and
1-17 assistant department heads, during negotiations with the public
1-18 employer.
1-19 (2) "Police employee group" means an organization:
1-20 (A) in which at least three percent of the
1-21 police officers of the municipality participate and pay dues; and
1-22 (B) that exists for the purpose, in whole or
1-23 part, of dealing with the municipality concerning grievances, labor
1-24 disputes, wages, rates of pay, benefits, hours of work, or
2-1 conditions of work affecting police officers.
2-2 (3) "Public employer" means any municipality or
2-3 agency, board, commission, or political subdivision controlled by a
2-4 municipality that is required to establish the wages, salaries,
2-5 rates of pay, benefits, hours of work, working conditions, and
2-6 other terms and conditions of employment of police officers. The
2-7 term includes, under appropriate circumstances, a mayor, manager,
2-8 administrator of a municipality, municipal governing body, director
2-9 of personnel, personnel board, or one or more other officials,
2-10 regardless of the name by which they are designated.
2-11 Sec. 143.403. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
2-12 RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES. (a) A municipality may not be denied
2-13 local control over the wages, salaries, rates of pay, benefits,
2-14 hours of work, and other terms of employment, or other
2-15 state-mandated personnel issues, if the public employer and the
2-16 bargaining agent come to a mutual agreement on any of the terms of
2-17 employment. If an agreement is not reached, the state laws, local
2-18 ordinances, and civil service rules remain unaffected. All
2-19 agreements shall be written. Nothing in this subchapter requires
2-20 either party to meet and confer on any issue or reach an agreement.
2-21 (b) A public employer may meet and confer only if the
2-22 bargaining agent does not advocate the illegal right to strike by
2-23 public employees.
2-24 (c) Police officers of a municipality may not engage in
2-25 strikes or organized work stoppages against this state or a
2-26 political subdivision of this state. A police officer who
2-27 participates in a strike forfeits all civil service rights,
3-1 reemployment rights, and any other rights, benefits, or privileges
3-2 the police officer enjoys as a result of employment or prior
3-3 employment, except that the right of an individual to cease work
3-4 may not be abridged if the individual is not acting in concert with
3-5 others in an organized work stoppage.
3-6 Sec. 143.404. RECOGNITION OF POLICE EMPLOYEE GROUP;
3-7 DESIGNATION OF EMPLOYER BARGAINING TEAM. (a) The public employer
3-8 may recognize a police employee group that submits a petition
3-9 signed by a majority of the paid police officers in the
3-10 municipality, excluding the head of the department and assistant
3-11 department heads in the rank or classification immediately below
3-12 that of the department head, as the sole and exclusive bargaining
3-13 agent for all of the police officers in the municipality, excluding
3-14 the department head and assistant department heads, unless
3-15 recognition of the police employee group is withdrawn by a majority
3-16 of those police officers.
3-17 (b) Whether a police employee group represents a majority of
3-18 the police officers in the municipality, excluding the department
3-19 head and assistant department heads, shall be resolved by a fair
3-20 election conducted according to procedures agreed on by the
3-21 parties. If the parties are unable to agree on election
3-22 procedures, either party may request the American Arbitration
3-23 Association to conduct the election and to certify the results.
3-24 Certification of the results of an election under this subsection
3-25 resolves the question concerning representation. The police
3-26 employee group shall pay the costs of the election, except that if
3-27 two or more police employee groups seeking recognition as the
4-1 bargaining agent submit petitions signed by a majority of the
4-2 police officers eligible to sign the petition, the police employee
4-3 groups shall share equally the costs of the election.
4-4 (c) The public employer's chief executive officer shall
4-5 designate a team to represent the public employer as its sole and
4-6 exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the police
4-7 department.
4-8 Sec. 143.405. PAYROLL DUES DEDUCTIONS. After a bargaining
4-9 agent is recognized, the public employer may not stop or prevent
4-10 automatic payroll deductions for dues paid to a police employee
4-11 group because the group is or is not the bargaining agent.
4-12 Sec. 143.406. OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. All documents relating
4-13 to an agreement between a bargaining agent and a public employer
4-14 shall be available to the public in accordance with state statutes.
4-15 Sec. 143.407. ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT. (a) A written
4-16 agreement made under this subchapter between a public employer and
4-17 a bargaining agent is enforceable and binding on the public
4-18 employer, the bargaining agent, police employee groups, and the
4-19 police officers covered by the agreement if:
4-20 (1) the municipality's governing body ratified the
4-21 agreement by a majority vote; and
4-22 (2) the agreement is ratified under Section 143.408.
4-23 (b) A state district court of a judicial district in which a
4-24 majority of the population of the municipality is located has full
4-25 authority and jurisdiction on the application of either party
4-26 aggrieved by an action or omission of the other party when the
4-27 action or omission is related to a right, duty, or obligation
5-1 provided by any written agreement ratified as required by this
5-2 subchapter. The court may issue proper restraining orders,
5-3 temporary and permanent injunctions, and any other writ, order, or
5-4 process, including contempt orders, that are appropriate to
5-5 enforcing any written agreement ratified as required by this
5-6 subchapter.
5-7 Sec. 143.408. ELECTION TO RATIFY AGREEMENT. (a) The
5-8 bargaining agent shall call an election to ratify any agreement
5-9 reached with the public employer.
5-10 (b) All police officers of the municipality, other than the
5-11 department head and assistant department heads, are eligible to
5-12 vote in the election.
5-13 (c) The bargaining agent shall establish procedures of the
5-14 election.
5-15 (d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a majority of all
5-16 votes cast is required to ratify an agreement.
5-17 (e) To ratify a provision of the agreement that alters,
5-18 amends, or changes this chapter's application to the municipality,
5-19 the majority of all police officers employed by the municipality
5-20 must vote in favor of the provision.
5-21 Sec. 143.409. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
5-22 (a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter between a
5-23 public employer and the bargaining agent supersedes a previous
5-24 statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, benefits, hours
5-25 of work, and other terms of employment to the extent of any
5-26 conflict with the previous statute.
5-27 (b) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter
6-1 preempts all contrary local ordinances, executive orders,
6-2 legislation, or rules adopted by the state or a political
6-3 subdivision or agent of the state, such as a personnel board, a
6-4 civil service commission, or a home-rule municipality.
6-5 (c) An agreement under this subchapter may not diminish or
6-6 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
6-7 chapter unless approved in accordance with Section 143.408(e) or
6-8 under other law unless approved by a majority of the votes cast at
6-9 the secret ballot election held by the bargaining agent to ratify
6-10 the agreement.
6-11 Sec. 143.410. REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE. Within 45
6-12 days after the date an agreement is ratified and signed by the
6-13 municipality and the bargaining agent, a petition signed by a
6-14 number of registered voters equal to 10 percent of the votes cast
6-15 at the most recent mayoral general election in the municipality may
6-16 be presented to the municipal secretary calling an election for the
6-17 repeal of the agreement, in which event the governing body shall
6-18 reconsider the agreement, and, if it does not repeal the agreement,
6-19 it shall call an election of the qualified voters to determine if
6-20 they desire to repeal the agreement. The election shall be held as
6-21 part of the next regularly scheduled municipal election or at a
6-22 special election called by the governing body for that purpose. If
6-23 at the election a majority of the votes are cast in favor of the
6-24 repeal of the adoption of the agreement, the agreement becomes
6-25 void. The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or
6-26 against the proposition:
6-27 "Repeal of the adoption of the agreement ratified by the
7-1 municipality and the police officers of the municipality concerning
7-2 wages, salaries, rates of pay, benefits, hours of work, and other
7-3 terms of employment."
7-4 Sec. 143.411. PROTECTED RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES.
7-5 (a) For the purpose of any disciplinary appeal to either the civil
7-6 service commission or a hearing examiner, all police officers have
7-7 the right to choose to be represented by any person of their choice
7-8 or by the police employee group selected as the bargaining agent.
7-9 (b) An agreement may not interfere with the right of a
7-10 member of a police employee group to pursue allegations of
7-11 discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin,
7-12 religion, age, sex, or disability with the Commission on Human
7-13 Rights or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or to
7-14 pursue affirmative action litigation.
7-15 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.