78R5576 KEG-F

By:  Williams                                                     S.B. No. 1114



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to secondary employment by officers commissioned by the 
Department of Public Safety.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 411.0077, Government Code, is amended by 
amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsections (b-1) and 
(d) to read as follows:
	(b)  The department shall adopt reasonable guidelines 
relating to acceptable off-duty employment. The guidelines shall be 
uniformly applied to all supervisory and nonsupervisory 
commissioned officers.
	(b-1) If the department denies approval of a commissioned 
officer's secondary employment or proposed secondary employment, 
the director or the director's designee must promptly notify the 
officer in writing of the specific guideline adopted under 
Subsection (b) on which the department's decision is based.  The 
notice must explain why the secondary employment or proposed 
secondary employment is prohibited by the referenced guideline.
	(c)  If a commissioned [an] officer is engaged in off-duty 
employment that the officer believes, in good faith, is not 
prohibited by a specific guideline adopted under Subsection (b), 
the officer is authorized to engage in the off-duty employment 
until the director or the director's [his] designee informs the 
officer in writing that the employment is not acceptable.
	(d)  The department may not deny approval of an officer's 
secondary employment or proposed secondary employment, or adopt a 
guideline under Subsection (b) allowing the department to deny 
approval of an officer's secondary employment or proposed secondary 
employment, solely in response to official disciplinary action 
taken against the officer.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies to any decision made by the Department of Public Safety on 
or after the effective date of this Act with respect to whether a 
commissioned officer of the department is authorized to engage in 
off-duty employment.