78(R) HB 2870 - Introduced version


                                                                                

78R8440 YDB-F

By:  Alonzo                                                       H.B. No. 2870



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to conditions of employment for corrections officers 
employed by certain municipalities or counties.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Subtitle C, Title 5, Local Government Code, is 
amended by adding Chapter 176 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 176.  LOCAL CONTROL OF CORRECTIONS OFFICER EMPLOYMENT 
MATTERS IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES
	Sec. 176.001.  APPLICABILITY.  (a)  Except as provided by 
Subsection (b), this subchapter applies only to:
		(1)  a county with a population of more than two million 
that contains the majority of the territory of a municipality with a 
population of more than one million; and
		(2)  a municipality with a population of more than one 
million that has the majority of its territory located in a county 
described by Subdivision (1).
	(b)  This chapter does not apply to:                                    
		(1)  a municipality that has adopted Chapter 143; or                   
		(2)  a county in which the most populous municipality 
has adopted Chapter 143.
	Sec. 176.002.  DEFINITIONS.  (a)  In this chapter:                      
		(1)  "Association" means an organization in which 
corrections officers employed by a municipality or county 
participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of 
dealing with the municipality or county concerning grievances, 
labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of work, or conditions of 
work affecting corrections officers.
		(2)  "Public employer" means a municipality or county 
or a law enforcement agency of the municipality or 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 corrections officers employed by the municipality or 
county.
	(b)  A reference in this chapter to "municipality or county" 
means:   
		(1)  only a municipality, to the extent the reference 
involves correctional officers employed by a municipality; and
		(2)  only a county, to the extent the reference 
involves correctional officers employed by a county.
	Sec. 176.003.  GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS.  
(a)  The municipality or 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 bargaining agent 
under Section 176.006 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 association to meet and confer on any issue or reach an 
agreement.
	(d)  A public employer and the recognized association may 
meet and confer only if the association does not advocate an illegal 
strike by public employees.
	Sec. 176.004.  STRIKES PROHIBITED.  (a)  A corrections 
officer of the municipality or county may not engage in a strike or 
organized work stoppage against this state or the municipality or 
county.
	(b)  A corrections officer who participates in a strike 
forfeits any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other 
rights, benefits, or privileges the corrections officer may have as 
a result of the person's employment or prior employment with the 
municipality or county.
	(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. 176.005. SELECTION OF BARGAINING AGENT.  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 corrections officers by the 
municipality or county.
	Sec. 176.006.  RECOGNITION OF PEACE OFFICER ASSOCIATION.  
(a)  If the municipality or county chooses to meet and confer under 
this chapter, the public employer shall recognize an association 
submitting a petition for recognition signed by a majority of the 
corrections officers employed by the municipality or county or a 
law enforcement agency of the municipality or county, excluding the 
head of the agency and the employees exempt under Subsection (b), as 
the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all of the corrections 
officers employed by the municipality or county or law enforcement 
agency, excluding the agency head and exempt employees.
	(b)  For the purposes of Subsection (a), exempt employees are 
the employees that the head of the law enforcement agency of the 
municipality or county designates as exempt in the manner 
prescribed by Chapter 143 or 158.
	(c)  The public employer shall recognize the association 
until recognition of the association is withdrawn by a majority of 
the corrections officers eligible to sign a petition for 
recognition.
	Sec. 176.007.  ELECTION.  (a)  Whether an association 
represents a majority of the covered corrections officers shall be 
resolved by a fair election conducted according to procedures 
agreeable to the parties.
	(b)  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 section 
resolves the question concerning representation.
	(c)  The association is liable for the expenses of the 
election, except that if two or more associations seeking 
recognition as the bargaining agent submit petitions signed by a 
majority of the corrections officers eligible to sign the petition, 
the associations shall share equally the costs of the election.
	Sec. 176.008.  OPEN RECORDS. (a)  A proposed agreement and a 
document prepared and used by the municipality or county 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 or county.
	(b)  This section does not affect the application of 
Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared 
and used by the municipality or county in connection with the 
agreement.
	Sec. 176.009.  RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF 
AGREEMENT. (a)  An agreement under this chapter is enforceable and 
binding on the public employer, the recognized association, and the 
corrections officers covered by the agreement only if:
		(1)  the governing body of the municipality or county 
ratified the agreement by a majority vote; and
		(2)  the recognized association ratified the agreement 
by conducting a secret ballot election at which only the 
corrections officers of the municipality or county or law 
enforcement agency of the municipality or county in the association 
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 municipality or 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, that 
are appropriate to enforcing the agreement.
	Sec. 176.010.  AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS. 
(a)  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 county or by a division or 
agent of the municipality or county, such as a personnel board or a 
civil service commission.
	(b)  An agreement ratified under this chapter may not 
interfere with the right of a member of a 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.
	SECTION 2.   This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.