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78R7860 YDB-F
By: Keel H.B. No. 2303
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 does not apply
to a county that:
(1) has adopted Chapter 174; or
(2) has a population of more than one million.
Sec. 158.072. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Bargaining committee" means a committee of one or
more employee organizations composed primarily of peace officers
assigned to the law enforcement division of the sheriff's
department and detention officers assigned to divisions in the
department other than the law enforcement division who have elected
to form a bargaining committee 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 AND
RECOGNITION. (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
bargaining committee recognized as the sole and exclusive
bargaining agent under Section 158.075 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 written.
(c) This subchapter does not require either a public
employer or a recognized bargaining committee to meet and confer on
any issue or reach an agreement.
(d) 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 and detention officers by the sheriff's department.
(e) The sheriff may designate as exempt from the application
of an agreement under this subchapter persons described by Section
158.038(b) in the number prescribed by Section 158.038(b).
Sec. 158.074. STRIKES PROHIBITED. (a) A public employer
and the recognized bargaining committee may meet and confer only if
the bargaining committee and any employee organization composed
primarily of peace officers and detention officers of a sheriff's
department do not advocate the illegal right to strike by public
employees.
(b) 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.
(c) 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.
(d) 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. 158.075. RECOGNITION OF PEACE OFFICERS AND DETENTION
OFFICERS BARGAINING COMMITTEE. (a) In a county that chooses to
meet and confer under this subchapter, the public employer shall
recognize a bargaining committee 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 has designated as exempt under
Section 158.073(e), as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for
all of the peace officers and detention officers employed by the
sheriff's department, excluding the sheriff and persons the sheriff
has designated as exempt under Section 158.073(e), until
recognition of the bargaining committee is withdrawn by a majority
of the peace officers and detention officers eligible to sign a
petition for recognition.
(b) Whether a bargaining committee represents a majority of
the covered peace officers and detention officers shall be resolved
by a fair election conducted according to procedures agreeable to
the parties.
(c) 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.
(d) The bargaining committee is liable for the expenses of
an election under this section, except that if two or more
committees seeking recognition as the sole and exclusive bargaining
agent submit petitions signed by a majority of the peace officers
and detention officers eligible to sign the petition, the
committees shall share equally the costs of the election.
Sec. 158.076. 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. 158.077. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF
AGREEMENT. (a) An agreement under this subchapter is enforceable
and binding on the public employer, the recognized bargaining
committee, and peace officers and detention officers covered by the
agreement only if:
(1) the commissioners court ratified the agreement by
a majority vote; and
(2) the recognized bargaining committee ratified the
agreement by conducting a secret ballot election at which only the
peace officers and detention officers of the county in the employee
organization or organizations representing peace officers and
detention officers who could be covered by the agreement were
eligible to vote, and a majority of the votes cast at the election
favored ratifying 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 state 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, as appropriate to
enforce the agreement.
Sec. 158.078. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
(a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter 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 sheriff or county
or a division or agent of the sheriff or county, such as a personnel
board or a civil service commission.
(b) An agreement ratified under this subchapter may not
interfere with the right of a member of an employee organization 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.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.