78R7346 KSD-F
By: Villarreal H.B. No. 2214
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to conditions of employment for a peace officer or a
detention officer employed by certain sheriff's departments.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 158, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER C. LOCAL CONTROL OF SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT EMPLOYMENT
MATTERS
Sec. 158.071. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
to a county with a population of more than one million that:
(1) has adopted a civil service system under
Subchapter B; and
(2) contains the majority of the territory of a
municipality with a population of more than one million that has
adopted Chapter 174.
Sec. 158.072. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Association" means an organization in which peace
officers and detention officers employed by the sheriff's
department participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or
in part, of dealing with the county concerning grievances, labor
disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of work, or conditions of work
affecting the peace officers and detention officers.
(2) "Public employer" means a sheriff's department, a
county, or an agency, board, or commission controlled by a county
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 and detention officers employed by
the sheriff's department.
Sec. 158.073. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES. (a) A county 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 association recognized as the sole and exclusive
meet and confer agent under Section 158.074 agree as provided by
this subchapter. Applicable statutes and applicable local orders,
ordinances, and civil service rules and regulations apply to an
issue not governed by the agreement.
(b) An agreement under this subchapter must be in writing.
(c) This subchapter does not require a public employer and
the association recognized as the sole and exclusive meet and
confer agent under Section 158.074 to meet and confer or reach an
agreement on any issue.
(d) A public employer and an association recognized as the
sole and exclusive meet and confer agent under Section 158.074 may
meet and confer only if the association does not advocate the
illegal right to strike by public employees.
(e) A peace officer or detention officer of a sheriff's
department may not engage in a strike or organized work stoppage
against this state or a political subdivision of this state. A
peace officer or detention officer who participates in a strike
forfeits any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other
rights, benefits, or privileges the peace officer or detention
officer may have as a result of the person's employment or prior
employment with the sheriff's department. This subsection 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.
(f) 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 meet and
confer agent for issues related to the employment of peace officers
and detention officers by the sheriff's department.
Sec. 158.074. RECOGNITION OF PEACE OFFICER AND DETENTION
OFFICERS ASSOCIATION. (a) In a county that chooses to meet and
confer under this subchapter, the public employer shall recognize
an association submitting a petition for recognition signed by a
majority of the peace officers and detention officers employed by
the sheriff's department, excluding the sheriff and persons the
sheriff may designate as exempt from a civil service system under
Section 158.038(b), as the sole and exclusive meet and confer agent
for all of the peace officers and detention officers employed by the
sheriff's department, excluding the sheriff and persons the sheriff
may designate as exempt under Section 158.038(b), until recognition
of the association is withdrawn by a majority of the peace officers
and detention officers eligible to sign a petition for recognition.
(b) Whether an association represents a majority of the
covered employees shall be resolved by a fair election conducted
according to procedures agreeable to the parties. If the parties
are unable to agree on election procedures, either party may
request the American Arbitration Association to conduct the
election and to certify the results. Certification of the results
of an election under this subsection resolves the question
concerning representation. The association is liable for the
expenses of the election, except that if two or more associations
seeking recognition as the sole and exclusive meet and confer agent
submit petitions signed by a majority of the employees eligible to
sign the petition, the associations shall share equally the costs
of the election.
Sec. 158.075. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed agreement and a
document prepared and used by the sheriff's department in
connection with the proposed agreement are available to the public
under Chapter 552, Government Code, only after the agreement is
ratified by the commissioners court.
(b) This section does not affect the application of
Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared
and used by the sheriff's department in connection with the
agreement.
Sec. 158.076. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF
AGREEMENT. (a) An agreement under this subchapter is enforceable
and binding on the public employer, the recognized association, and
peace officers and detention officers covered by the agreement only
if:
(1) the commissioners court ratified the agreement by
a majority vote;
(2) the recognized association ratified the agreement
by conducting a secret ballot election at which only the peace
officers and detention officers of the county in the association
were eligible to vote, and a majority of the votes cast at the
election favored ratifying the agreement; and
(3) the sheriff of the county ratified the agreement.
(b) An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a) may
establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
agreement, including binding arbitration on a question involving
interpretation of the agreement.
(c) A district court of a judicial district in which the
county 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, appropriate to
enforce the agreement.
Sec. 158.077. PROTECTED RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES.
(a) For the purpose of any disciplinary appeal to the civil service
commission or to a hearing examiner, a member of the association may
choose to be represented by any person of the member's choice or by
the association.
(b) An agreement may not interfere with the right of a
member of the association 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 Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action
litigation.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.