| TO: | Honorable Frank Madla, Chair, Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB1686 by Gallegos (Relating to the training required for a person appointed as a county jailer.), As Introduced |
The bill would require, in addition to initial preparatory training, a county jailer in a county with a population of 500,000 or more to complete 160 hours of training approved by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE) during the first 24 months of the person's appointment as a jailer. The bill would take effect September 1, 2003.
TCLEOSE anticipates no fiscal impact to the state unless the agency were to be required to develop the training courses. The fiscal anlaysis assumes that the total expense for developing and providing the training courses would be incurred by the counties and that the total requirment of 160 hours includes the current basic 80 hours, as opposed to an additional 160 hours above the 80. Based on 2000 census figures, the bill would currently apply to (from lowest to highest population over 500,000) Hidalgo, El Paso, Travis, Bexar, Tarrant, Dallas, and Harris counties.
The county would incur a cost increase for providing additional training in the first 24 months of a jailer's employment. The increase in costs would vary, depending on the amount of training already provided by the county during that time period. Officials in Bexar County estimate the fiscal impact would be significant, as the county would require additional training officers, classroom space, and an increase in salary expenses to pay for jailers to be working while newer jailers are attending training. Harris County currently provides 134 hours of training for jailers during the first two years of their employment. Harris County estimates that adding 26 hours to the total number of hours of training in the first two years to comply with the 160 hours proposed in the bill would increase training costs by $30,000 per year.
TCLEOSE provided data that shows the affected counties collectively employ 8,643 county jailers to whom the requirements of the bill would currently affect. Assuming an average salary rate of $10 per hour for the jailer's time in training multiplied times 80 (additional) hours of training, multiplied times the 8,643 county jailers, the aggregate cost in salary/time for the jailers attending the training would be $6,914,400. This does not include costs of trainers, developing training courses, or jailers scheduled to work extra hours while new jailers attend training.
| Source Agencies: | 407 Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education
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| LBB Staff: | JK, DLBa
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