78R13301 YDB-D
By: Bailey H.B. No. 1643
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1643:
By: Talton C.S.H.B. No. 1643
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to conditions of employment for peace officers employed by
certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 145 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 145. LOCAL CONTROL OF PEACE OFFICER EMPLOYMENT MATTERS
IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES
Sec. 145.001. APPLICABILITY. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), this chapter applies only to a municipality of this
state that has a population of 10,000 or more and has adopted
Chapter 143.
(b) This chapter does not apply to a municipality that:
(1) has adopted Chapter 174; or
(2) is covered by Subchapter H, I, or J, Chapter 143.
Sec. 145.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Peace officer" means a person defined as a peace
officer by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or other law.
(2) "Peace officer's bargaining committee" means a
committee in which peace officers employed by a municipality of
this state participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or
in part, of meeting and conferring with the municipality concerning
grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of work, or
conditions of work affecting peace officers.
(3) "Public employer" means a municipality of this
state or a law enforcement agency of the municipality that is
required to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
work, working conditions, and other terms and conditions of
employment of peace officers employed by the municipality.
Sec. 145.003. STRIKES PROHIBITED. (a) A peace officer of a
municipality may not engage in a strike or organized work stoppage
against this state or the municipality.
(b) A peace officer who participates in a strike forfeits
any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other rights,
benefits, or privileges the peace officer may have as a result of
the person's employment or prior employment with the municipality.
(c) This section does not affect the right of a person to
cease work if the person is not acting in concert with others in an
organized work stoppage.
Sec. 145.004. MANDATORY PROVISIONS RELATED TO AGREEMENTS.
An agreement ratified in accordance with this chapter shall
include:
(1) a process that provides for the review and
oversight of the law enforcement agency and peace officers employed
by the municipality by members of the public other than the elected
members of the governing body of the municipality;
(2) a policy that follows state law as to racial
profiling;
(3) an open, fair, competitive, and equitable
promotion process;
(4) a hiring process designed to encourage the
application and recruitment of women and minorities; and
(5) a prohibition against interfering with the right
of a person who is a member of the bargaining unit to pursue
allegations of discrimination based on race, creed, color, national
origin, religion, age, sex, or disability with the Commission on
Human Rights or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
or to pursue affirmative action litigation.
Sec. 145.005. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS.
(a) A municipality may not be denied local control over the wages,
salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or other terms and conditions
of employment to the extent the public employer and the peace
officer's bargaining committee recognized as the sole and exclusive
bargaining agent under Section 145.007 agree as provided by this
chapter. Applicable statutes and applicable local orders,
ordinances, and civil service rules apply to an issue not governed
by the agreement.
(b) An agreement under this chapter must be written.
(c) This chapter does not require a public employer or a
recognized peace officer's bargaining committee to meet and confer
on any issue or reach an agreement.
(d) A public employer and the recognized peace officer's
bargaining committee may meet and confer only if the committee does
not advocate an illegal strike by public employees.
Sec. 145.006. SELECTION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYER'S BARGAINING
COMMITTEE. (a) The public employer's chief executive officer or
the chief executive officer's designee shall select a group of
persons to represent the public employer as its sole and exclusive
bargaining agent for issues related to the employment of peace
officers by the municipality.
(b) The public employer's bargaining committee must be
representative of the community.
Sec. 145.007. RECOGNITION OF PEACE OFFICER'S BARGAINING
COMMITTEE. (a) In a municipality that chooses to meet and confer
under this chapter, the public employer shall recognize a peace
officer's bargaining committee selected in accordance with this
section.
(b) A petition for recognition signed by a majority of the
peace officers employed by the municipality, excluding the peace
officers exempt under Section 145.008, shall designate by name at
least five peace officers to serve on the peace officer's
bargaining committee to represent the peace officers as the sole
and exclusive bargaining agent on issues related to the employment
of peace officers by the municipality.
(c) After the initial agreement, the peace officer's
bargaining committee shall submit the names of its representatives
to the public employer before a meeting with the public employer's
bargaining committee under this chapter.
(d) The peace officer's bargaining committee shall make a
reasonable effort to include peace officers on the committee who
reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the law enforcement
agency and that represent the agency's divisions.
(e) In addition to the representatives selected by the
majority of peace officers to serve on the peace officer's
bargaining committee under Subsection (b), the committee shall
include additional representatives if the municipality has more
than one organization that represents the peace officers employed
by the municipality. Each organization is entitled to one
representative on the peace officer's bargaining committee if:
(1) the organization is a labor organization listed
under Section 501(c)(4) or (5), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and
has a bona fide membership that includes at least 30 percent of the
peace officers employed by the municipality; or
(2) the organization represents members who are
primarily racial minority peace officers and has a bona fide
membership that includes at least 30 percent of the peace officers
in the represented class employed by the municipality.
(f) The peace officer's bargaining committee shall fairly
represent all peace officers employed by the municipality
regardless of race, creed, color, ethnic background, national
origin, or affiliation of the peace officer with a particular labor
group or organization.
(g) The public employer shall recognize the selected peace
officer's bargaining committee until recognition of the
association is withdrawn by a majority of the peace officers
employed by the municipality, excluding employees exempt under
Section 145.008.
Sec. 145.008. EXEMPT EMPLOYEES. The following peace
officers are considered exempt and are not entitled to participate
in the selection of the peace officer's bargaining committee, serve
on the peace officer's bargaining committee, or vote in an election
to ratify an agreement:
(1) the head of a law enforcement agency of the
municipality;
(2) any employee considered exempt under Chapter 143
if the municipality has adopted the chapter; or
(3) any other employee designated as exempt under an
agreement ratified in accordance with this chapter.
Sec. 145.009. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed agreement and a
document prepared and used by the municipality in connection with a
proposed agreement are available to the public under Chapter 552,
Government Code, only after the agreement is ratified by the
governing body of the municipality.
(b) This section does not affect the application of
Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared
and used by the municipality in connection with the agreement.
Sec. 145.010. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF
AGREEMENT. (a) An agreement under this chapter is enforceable and
binding on the public employer, the recognized peace officer's
bargaining committee, and the peace officers covered by the
agreement only if:
(1) the governing body of the municipality ratified
the agreement by a majority vote; and
(2) the recognized peace officer's bargaining
committee ratified the agreement by conducting a secret ballot
election of the peace officers of the municipality, excluding
employees exempt under Section 145.008, and a majority of the votes
cast at the election favored ratifying the agreement.
(b) A state district court of a judicial district in which
the municipality is located has jurisdiction to hear and resolve a
dispute under the ratified agreement on the application of a party
to the agreement aggrieved by an action or omission of the other
party when the action or omission is related to a right, duty, or
obligation provided by the agreement. The court may issue proper
restraining orders, temporary and permanent injunctions, or any
other writ, order, or process, including contempt orders, that are
appropriate to enforcing the agreement.
Sec. 145.011. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
A written agreement ratified under this chapter preempts, during
the term of the agreement and to the extent of any conflict, all
contrary state statutes, local ordinances, executive orders, civil
service provisions, or rules adopted by the head of the law
enforcement agency or municipality or by a division or agent of the
municipality, such as a personnel board or a civil service
commission.
Sec. 145.012. ELECTION TO REPEAL AGREEMENT. (a) Not later
than the 60th day after the date an agreement is ratified by the
public employer and the peace officer's bargaining committee, a
petition calling for the repeal of the agreement signed by a number
of registered voters who reside in the municipality equal to at
least 10 percent of the votes cast at the most recent general
election held in the municipality may be presented to the person
charged with ordering an election under Section 3.004, Election
Code.
(b) If a petition is presented under Subsection (a), the
governing body of the municipality shall:
(1) repeal the agreement; or
(2) certify that it is not repealing the agreement and
call an election to determine whether to repeal the agreement.
(c) An election called under Subsection (b)(2) may be held
as part of the next regularly scheduled general election of the
municipality or at a special election called by the governing body
of the municipality for that purpose. The ballot shall be printed
to provide for voting for or against the proposition: "Repeal the
agreement ratified on _____ (date agreement was ratified) by the
__________ (name of the governing body of the municipality) and the
peace officers employed by the __________ (name of public employer)
concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other
terms of employment."
(d) If a majority of the votes cast at the election favor the
repeal of the agreement, the agreement is void.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.