By Maxey H.B. No. 1318
77R1994 YDB-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to conditions of employment for a peace officer or a
1-3 detention officer employed by certain sheriff's departments.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 158, Local Government Code, is amended by
1-6 adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER C. LOCAL CONTROL OF SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
1-8 EMPLOYMENT MATTERS
1-9 Sec. 158.071. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter does not apply
1-10 to a county:
1-11 (1) that has adopted Chapter 174; or
1-12 (2) that has a population of more than one million.
1-13 Sec. 158.072. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-14 (1) "Association" means an organization in which peace
1-15 officers and detention officers employed by the sheriff's
1-16 department participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or
1-17 in part, of dealing with the county concerning grievances, labor
1-18 disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of work, or conditions of work
1-19 affecting the peace officers and detention officers.
1-20 (2) "Public employer" means a sheriff's department, a
1-21 county, or an agency, board, or commission controlled by a county
1-22 that is required to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay,
1-23 hours of work, working conditions, and other terms and conditions
1-24 of employment of peace officers and detention officers employed by
2-1 the sheriff's department.
2-2 Sec. 158.073. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
2-3 RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES. (a) A county may not be denied local
2-4 control over the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or
2-5 other terms and conditions of employment, to the extent the public
2-6 employer and the association recognized as the sole and exclusive
2-7 bargaining agent under Section 158.074 agree as provided by this
2-8 subchapter. Applicable statutes and applicable local orders,
2-9 ordinances, and civil service rules and regulations apply to an
2-10 issue not governed by the agreement.
2-11 (b) An agreement under this subchapter must be written.
2-12 (c) This subchapter does not require either a public
2-13 employer or a recognized association to meet and confer on any
2-14 issue or reach an agreement.
2-15 (d) A public employer and the recognized association may
2-16 meet and confer only if the association does not advocate the
2-17 illegal right to strike by public employees.
2-18 (e) A peace officer or detention officer of a sheriff's
2-19 department may not engage in a strike or organized work stoppage
2-20 against this state or a political subdivision of this state. A
2-21 peace officer or detention officer who participates in a strike
2-22 forfeits any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other
2-23 rights, benefits, or privileges the peace officer or detention
2-24 officer may have as a result of the person's employment or prior
2-25 employment with the sheriff's department. This subsection does not
2-26 affect the right of a person to cease work if the person is not
2-27 acting in concert with others in an organized work stoppage.
3-1 (f) The public employer's chief executive officer or the
3-2 chief executive officer's designee shall select a group of persons
3-3 to represent the public employer as its sole and exclusive
3-4 bargaining agent for issues related to the employment of peace
3-5 officers and detention officers by the sheriff's department.
3-6 Sec. 158.074. RECOGNITION OF PEACE OFFICER AND DETENTION
3-7 OFFICERS ASSOCIATION. (a) In a county that chooses to meet and
3-8 confer under this subchapter, the public employer shall recognize
3-9 an association submitting a petition for recognition signed by a
3-10 majority of the peace officers and detention officers employed by
3-11 the sheriff's department, excluding the sheriff and persons the
3-12 sheriff may designate as exempt from a civil service system under
3-13 Section 158.038(b), as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for
3-14 all of the peace officers and detention officers employed by the
3-15 sheriff's department, excluding the sheriff and persons the sheriff
3-16 may designate as exempt under Section 158.038(b), until recognition
3-17 of the association is withdrawn by a majority of the peace officers
3-18 and detention officers eligible to sign a petition for recognition.
3-19 (b) Whether an association represents a majority of the
3-20 covered peace officers and detention officers shall be resolved by
3-21 a fair election conducted according to procedures agreeable to the
3-22 parties. If the parties are unable to agree on election
3-23 procedures, either party may request the American Arbitration
3-24 Association to conduct the election and to certify the results.
3-25 Certification of the results of an election under this subsection
3-26 resolves the question concerning representation. The association
3-27 is liable for the expenses of the election, except that if two or
4-1 more associations seeking recognition as the sole and exclusive
4-2 bargaining agent submit petitions signed by a majority of the peace
4-3 officers and detention officers eligible to sign the petition, the
4-4 associations shall share equally the costs of the election.
4-5 Sec. 158.075. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed agreement and a
4-6 document prepared and used by the sheriff's department in
4-7 connection with the proposed agreement are available to the public
4-8 under Chapter 552, Government Code, only after the agreement is
4-9 ratified by the commissioners court.
4-10 (b) This section does not affect the application of
4-11 Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared
4-12 and used by the sheriff's department in connection with the
4-13 agreement.
4-14 Sec. 158.076. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT.
4-15 (a) An agreement under this subchapter is enforceable and binding
4-16 on the public employer, the recognized association, and peace
4-17 officers and detention officers covered by the agreement only if:
4-18 (1) the commissioners court ratified the agreement by
4-19 a majority vote;
4-20 (2) the recognized association ratified the agreement
4-21 by conducting a secret ballot election at which only the peace
4-22 officers and detention officers of the county in the association
4-23 were eligible to vote, and a majority of the votes cast at the
4-24 election favored ratifying the agreement; and
4-25 (3) the sheriff of the county ratified the agreement.
4-26 (b) An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a) may
4-27 establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
5-1 disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
5-2 agreement, including binding arbitration on a question involving
5-3 interpretation of the agreement.
5-4 (c) A state district court of a judicial district in which
5-5 the county is located has jurisdiction to hear and resolve a
5-6 dispute under the ratified agreement on the application of a party
5-7 to the agreement aggrieved by an action or omission of the other
5-8 party when the action or omission is related to a right, duty, or
5-9 obligation provided by the agreement. The court may issue proper
5-10 restraining orders, temporary and permanent injunctions, or any
5-11 other writ, order, or process, including contempt orders, that are
5-12 appropriate to enforce the agreement.
5-13 Sec. 158.077. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
5-14 (a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter preempts,
5-15 during the term of the agreement, and to the extent of any
5-16 conflict, all contrary state statutes, local ordinances, executive
5-17 orders, civil service provisions, or rules adopted by the sheriff
5-18 or county or a division or agent of the sheriff or county, such as
5-19 a personnel board or a civil service commission.
5-20 (b) An agreement ratified under this subchapter may not
5-21 interfere with the right of a member of a bargaining unit to pursue
5-22 allegations of discrimination based on race, creed, color, national
5-23 origin, religion, age, sex, or disability with the Commission on
5-24 Human Rights or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
5-25 or to pursue affirmative action litigation.
5-26 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.