By Noriega H.B. No. 2720
77R4705 KSD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to local control of county law enforcement employment
1-3 matters in certain counties.
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 COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
1-8 EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN COUNTIES
1-9 Sec. 158.071. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
1-10 to a county with a population of 2.8 million or more.
1-11 Sec. 158.072. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-12 (1) "Association" means an organization in which
1-13 county law enforcement officers participate and that exists for the
1-14 purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with the county concerning
1-15 grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of work, or
1-16 conditions of work affecting the officers.
1-17 (2) "County law enforcement officer" means a deputy
1-18 sheriff or other peace officer or a jailer employed in the
1-19 sheriff's department.
1-20 (3) "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 county law enforcement officers.
2-1 Sec. 158.073. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
2-2 RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES. (a) A county may not be denied local
2-3 control over the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or
2-4 other terms and conditions of employment, to the extent the public
2-5 employer and the association recognized as the sole and exclusive
2-6 bargaining agent under Section 158.074 agree as provided by this
2-7 subchapter. Applicable statutes and applicable local orders,
2-8 ordinances, and civil service rules and regulations apply to an
2-9 issue not governed by the agreement.
2-10 (b) An agreement under this subchapter must be written.
2-11 (c) This subchapter does not require either a public
2-12 employer or a recognized association to meet and confer on any
2-13 issue or reach an agreement.
2-14 (d) A public employer and the recognized association may
2-15 meet and confer only if the association does not advocate the
2-16 illegal right to strike by public employees.
2-17 (e) A county law enforcement officer may not engage in a
2-18 strike or organized work stoppage against this state or a political
2-19 subdivision of this state. An officer who participates in a strike
2-20 forfeits any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other
2-21 rights, benefits, or privileges the officer may have as a result of
2-22 the person's employment or prior employment with the sheriff's
2-23 department. This subsection does not affect the right of a person
2-24 to cease work if the person is not acting in concert with others in
2-25 an organized work stoppage.
2-26 (f) The public employer's chief executive officer or the
2-27 chief executive officer's designee shall select a group of persons
3-1 to represent the public employer as its sole and exclusive
3-2 bargaining agent for issues related to the employment of county law
3-3 enforcement officers.
3-4 Sec. 158.074. RECOGNITION OF COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
3-5 ASSOCIATION. (a) In a county that chooses to meet and confer
3-6 under this subchapter, the public employer shall recognize an
3-7 association submitting a petition for recognition signed by a
3-8 majority of the county law enforcement officers, excluding the
3-9 sheriff and assistant department heads in the rank or
3-10 classification immediately below that of the sheriff, as the sole
3-11 and exclusive bargaining agent for all of the officers, excluding
3-12 the sheriff and assistant department heads in the rank or
3-13 classification immediately below that of the sheriff, until
3-14 recognition of the association is withdrawn by a majority of the
3-15 officers eligible to sign a petition for recognition.
3-16 (b) Whether an association represents a majority of the
3-17 covered county law enforcement officers shall be resolved by a fair
3-18 election conducted according to procedures agreeable to the
3-19 parties. If the parties are unable to agree on election
3-20 procedures, either party may request the American Arbitration
3-21 Association to conduct the election and to certify the results.
3-22 Certification of the results of an election under this subsection
3-23 resolves the question concerning representation. The association
3-24 is liable for the expenses of the election, except that if two or
3-25 more associations seeking recognition as the sole and exclusive
3-26 bargaining agent submit petitions signed by a majority of the
3-27 officers eligible to sign the petition, the associations shall
4-1 share equally the costs of the election.
4-2 Sec. 158.075. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed agreement and a
4-3 document prepared and used by the sheriff's department in
4-4 connection with the proposed agreement are available to the public
4-5 under Chapter 552, Government Code, only after the agreement is
4-6 ratified by the commissioners court.
4-7 (b) This section does not affect the application of
4-8 Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared
4-9 and used by the sheriff's department in connection with the
4-10 agreement.
4-11 Sec. 158.076. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT.
4-12 (a) An agreement under this subchapter is enforceable and binding
4-13 on the public employer, the recognized association, and county law
4-14 enforcement officers covered by the agreement only if:
4-15 (1) the commissioners court ratified the agreement by
4-16 a majority vote; and
4-17 (2) the recognized association ratified the agreement
4-18 by conducting a secret ballot election at which only the officers
4-19 in the association were eligible to vote, and a majority of the
4-20 votes cast at the election favored ratifying the agreement.
4-21 (b) An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a) may
4-22 establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
4-23 disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
4-24 agreement, including binding arbitration on a question involving
4-25 interpretation of the agreement.
4-26 (c) A state district court of a judicial district in which
4-27 the county is located has jurisdiction to hear and resolve a
5-1 dispute under the ratified agreement on the application of a party
5-2 to the agreement aggrieved by an action or omission of the other
5-3 party when the action or omission is related to a right, duty, or
5-4 obligation provided by the agreement. The court may issue proper
5-5 restraining orders, temporary and permanent injunctions, or any
5-6 other writ, order, or process, including contempt orders, that are
5-7 appropriate to enforce the agreement.
5-8 Sec. 158.077. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
5-9 (a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter preempts,
5-10 during the term of the agreement, and to the extent of any
5-11 conflict, all contrary state statutes, local ordinances, executive
5-12 orders, civil service provisions, or rules adopted by the sheriff
5-13 or county or a division or agent of the sheriff or county, such as
5-14 a personnel board or a civil service commission.
5-15 (b) An agreement ratified under this subchapter may not
5-16 interfere with the right of a member of a bargaining unit to pursue
5-17 allegations of discrimination based on race, creed, color, national
5-18 origin, religion, age, sex, or disability with the Commission on
5-19 Human Rights or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
5-20 or to pursue affirmative action litigation.
5-21 Sec. 158.078. REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE. Within 45
5-22 days after the date an agreement is ratified and signed by the
5-23 county and the bargaining agent, a petition signed by a number of
5-24 registered voters equal to 10 percent of the votes cast at the most
5-25 recent general election in the county for county judge may be
5-26 presented to the county clerk calling an election for the repeal of
5-27 the agreement, in which event the commissioners court shall
6-1 reconsider the agreement, and, if it does not repeal the agreement,
6-2 it shall call an election of the qualified voters to determine if
6-3 they desire to repeal the agreement. The election shall be held as
6-4 part of the next regularly scheduled county election or at a
6-5 special election called by the commissioners court for that
6-6 purpose. If at the election a majority of the votes are cast in
6-7 favor of the repeal of the adoption of the agreement, the agreement
6-8 becomes void. The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting
6-9 for or against the proposition:
6-10 "Repeal of the adoption of the agreement ratified by the
6-11 county and the county law enforcement officers concerning wages,
6-12 salaries, rates of pay, benefits, hours of work, and other terms of
6-13 employment."
6-14 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.