78R1043 MXM-F

By:  Chisum                                                       H.B. No. 554



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to grievance procedures regarding compensation and 
expenses for county and precinct officers.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 152.013(c), Local Government Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(c)  Before filing the annual budget with the county clerk, 
the commissioners court shall give written notice to each elected 
county and precinct officer of the officer's salary, office and 
travel expenses, or other allowances [and personal expenses] to be 
included in the budget.
	SECTION 2.  Section 152.016, Local Government Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 152.016.  FUNCTIONS OF GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE IN RELATION 
TO ELECTED OFFICERS.  (a)  An elected county or precinct officer 
who is aggrieved by the setting of the officer's salary, office and 
travel expenses, or other allowances in the county's proposed 
annual budget [or personal expenses] may request a hearing before 
the salary grievance committee before the approval of the county's 
annual budget.  The request must:
		(1)  be in writing;                                                           
		(2)  be delivered to the committee chairman within five 
days after the date the officer receives notice of the proposed
salary, expenses, or other allowances [or personal expenses]; and
		(3)  state the desired change in salary, expenses, or 
other allowances [or personal expenses].
	(b)  The committee shall hold a public hearing within 10 days 
after the date the request is received.  The chairman shall announce 
the time and place of the hearing.
	(c)  If, after the hearing, [six or more of] the members vote 
on whether to recommend an increase in the officer's salary, office 
and travel expenses, or other allowances [or personal expenses], 
the committee shall recommend to submit its vote [recommendation] 
to the commissioners court in writing.  If six to eight members vote 
to recommend an [the] increase, the commissioners court shall 
consider the recommendation at its next meeting.  If nine members 
vote to recommend an [the] increase and sign the recommendation, 
the commissioners court shall include the increase in the budget 
before the budget is filed and the increase takes effect in the next 
budget year.
	(d)  The committee's authority is limited to the 
consideration of increases in the salaries, office and travel 
expenses, or other allowances related directly to the official 
duties [or personal expenses] of county and precinct officers that 
are expressly included in the officer's request for a hearing 
before the committee.  The committee may not set policy of the 
county or add new items to a proposed county budget.
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 152, Local Government 
Code, is amended by adding Section 152.0165 to read as follows:
	Sec. 152.0165.  EXHAUSTION OF REMEDIES BEFORE FILING SUIT 
REGARDING GRIEVANCE.  (a)  An elected county or precinct officer 
may not file suit regarding the officer's salary, office and travel 
expenses, or other allowances unless a hearing has been requested 
and held under Section 152.016.
	(b)  This section does not affect a defense, immunity, or 
jurisdictional bar available to a county or a county official or 
employee that is sued by a county or precinct officer based on the 
officer's salary, office and travel expenses, or other allowances.
	SECTION 4.  (a)  The changes made by this Act to Section 
152.016, Local Government Code, apply only to a hearing that begins 
on or after the effective date of this Act.  A hearing that began 
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in 
effect immediately before that date, and that law is continued in 
effect for that purpose.
	(b)  Section 152.0165, Local Government Code, as added by 
this Act, applies only to a civil action filed on or after the 
effective date of this Act.  An action filed before the effective 
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before 
that date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.