79R1489 YDB-F
By: Talton H.B. No. 304
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to conditions of employment for police officers employed
by certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 142, Local Government Code, is amended
by designating Sections 142.001-142.013 as Subchapter A and adding
a heading for Subchapter A to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 2. Chapter 142, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter B to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. LOCAL CONTROL OF POLICE OFFICER EMPLOYMENT MATTERS
IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES
Sec. 142.051. APPLICABILITY. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), this subchapter applies only to a municipality with
a population of 10,000 or more that employs police officers.
(b) This subchapter does not apply to a municipality that:
(1) has adopted Chapter 174;
(2) is covered by Subchapter H, I, or J, Chapter 143;
or
(3) has a population of 1 million or more and has not
adopted Chapter 143.
Sec. 142.052. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Police officer" means a person who is a peace
officer under Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or other
law, and who is employed by a municipality.
(2) "Police officers association" means an employee
organization in which police officers employed by a municipality
participate that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of
dealing with the municipality or public employer concerning
grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of work, or
conditions of work affecting police officers.
(3) "Public employer" means a municipality or a law
enforcement agency of the municipality that is required to
establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, working
conditions, and other terms and conditions of employment of police
officers employed by the municipality.
Sec. 142.053. PETITION FOR RECOGNITION: ELECTION OR ACTION
BY GOVERNING BODY. (a) Not later than the 30th day after the date
the governing body of a municipality receives from a police
officers association a petition signed by the majority of all
police officers, excluding the head of the law enforcement agency
for the municipality and excluding the employees exempt under
Section 142.058(b), that requests recognition of the association as
the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all the police officers
employed by the municipality, excluding the head of the law
enforcement agency for the municipality and excluding the exempt
employees, the governing body shall:
(1) grant recognition of the association as requested
in the petition and find that a public employer may meet and confer
under this subchapter without conducting an election by the voters
in the municipality under Section 142.055;
(2) defer granting recognition of the association and
order an election by the voters in the municipality under Section
142.055 regarding whether a public employer may meet and confer
under this subchapter; or
(3) order a certification election under Section
142.054 to determine whether the association represents a majority
of the affected police officers.
(b) If the governing body of a municipality orders a
certification election under Subsection (a)(3) and the association
named in the petition is certified to represent a majority of the
affected police officers of the municipality, the governing body
shall, not later than the 30th day after the date that results of
that election are certified:
(1) grant recognition of the association as requested
in the petition for recognition and find that a public employer may
meet and confer under this subchapter without conducting an
election by the voters in the municipality under Section 142.055;
or
(2) defer granting recognition of the association and
order an election by the voters in the municipality under Section
142.055 regarding whether a public employer may meet and confer
under this subchapter.
Sec. 142.054. CERTIFICATION ELECTION. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), a certification election ordered under
Section 142.053(a)(3) to determine whether a police officers
association represents a majority of the covered police officers
shall be conducted according to procedures agreeable to the
parties.
(b) If the parties are unable to agree on procedures for the
certification election, either party may request the American
Arbitration Association to conduct the election and to certify the
results of the election.
(c) Certification of the results of an election under this
section resolves the question concerning representation.
(d) The association is liable for the expenses of the
certification election, except that if two or more associations
seeking recognition as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent
submit a petition signed by at least 30 percent of the police
officers eligible to sign the petition for recognition, all the
associations named in any petition shall share equally the costs of
the election.
Sec. 142.055. ELECTION TO AUTHORIZE OPERATING UNDER THIS
SUBCHAPTER. (a) The governing body of a municipality that receives
a petition for recognition under Section 142.053 may order an
election to determine whether a public employer may meet and confer
under this subchapter.
(b) An election ordered under this section must be held on
the first authorized uniform election date prescribed by Chapter
41, Election Code, that occurs after the date the governing body of
the municipality orders the election and that allows sufficient
time to comply with other requirements of law.
(c) The ballot for an election ordered under this section
shall be printed to allow voting for or against the proposition:
"Authorizing __________ (name of the municipality) to operate under
the state law allowing a municipality to meet and confer and make
agreements with the association representing municipal police
officers as provided by state law, preserving the prohibition
against strikes and organized work stoppages, and providing
penalties for strikes and organized work stoppages."
(d) An election called under this section must be held and
the returns prepared and canvassed in conformity with the Election
Code.
(e) If an election authorized under this section is held,
the municipality may operate under the other provisions of this
subchapter only if a majority of the votes cast at the election
favor the proposition.
(f) If an election authorized under this section is held, an
association may not submit a petition for recognition to the
governing body of the municipality under Section 142.053 before the
first anniversary of the date of the election.
Sec. 142.056. CHANGE OR MODIFICATION OF RECOGNITION. (a)
The police officers may modify or change the recognition of the
association granted under this subchapter by filing with the
governing body of the municipality a petition signed by a majority
of all covered police officers.
(b) The governing body of the municipality may:
(1) recognize the change or modification as provided
by the petition; or
(2) order a certification election in accordance with
Section 142.054 regarding whether to do so.
Sec. 142.057. STRIKES PROHIBITED. (a) A police officer
employed by a municipality may not engage in a strike or organized
work stoppage against this state or the municipality.
(b) A police officer who participates in a strike forfeits
any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other rights,
benefits, or privileges the police officer may have as a result of
the officer's employment or prior employment with the municipality.
(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. 142.058. RECOGNITION OF POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION.
(a) A public employer in a municipality that chooses to meet and
confer under this subchapter shall recognize an association that is
recognized under Section 142.053 or 142.054 as the sole and
exclusive bargaining agent for the covered police officers
described in the petition for recognition, excluding the head of
the law enforcement agency and excluding the employees exempt under
Subsection (b), in accordance with this subchapter and the
petition.
(b) For the purposes of Subsection (a), exempt employees are
the employees appointed by the head of the law enforcement agency of
the municipality under Section 143.014 or that are exempt by the
mutual agreement of the recognized police officers association and
the public employer.
(c) The public employer shall recognize the police officers
association until recognition of the association is withdrawn, in
accordance with Section 142.056, by a majority of the police
officers eligible to sign a petition for recognition.
Sec. 142.059. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS.
(a) A municipality acting under this subchapter 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 police officers association recognized as the sole
and exclusive bargaining agent under this subchapter agree as
provided by this subchapter, if the agreement is ratified and not
withdrawn in accordance with this subchapter. Applicable statutes
and applicable local orders, ordinances, and civil service rules
apply to an issue not governed by the meet and confer agreement.
(b) A meet and confer agreement under this subchapter must
be written.
(c) This subchapter does not require a public employer or a
recognized police officers association to meet and confer on any
issue or reach an agreement.
(d) A public employer and the recognized police officers
association may meet and confer only if the association does not
advocate an illegal strike by public employees.
Sec. 142.060. SELECTION OF BARGAINING AGENT; BARGAINING
UNIT. (a) The public employer's chief executive officer or the
chief executive officer's designee shall select one or more persons
to represent the public employer as its sole and exclusive
bargaining agent to meet and confer on issues related to the wages,
hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of employment
of police officers by the municipality.
(b) A police officers association may designate one or more
persons to negotiate or bargain on the association's behalf.
(c) A municipality's bargaining unit is composed of all the
police officers of the municipality who are not the head of the law
enforcement agency or exempt under Section 142.058(b).
Sec. 142.061. PROTECTED RIGHTS OF POLICE OFFICER. (a) For
any disciplinary appeal, a member of the municipality's bargaining
unit may be represented by the police officers association or by any
person the member selects.
(b) A meet and confer agreement ratified under this
subchapter 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 Texas Workforce Commission civil rights
division or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or
to pursue affirmative action litigation.
Sec. 142.062. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed meet and confer
agreement and a document prepared and used by the municipality,
including a public employer, in connection with the 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.
(b) This section does not affect the application of
Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared
and used in connection with the agreement.
Sec. 142.063. OPEN DELIBERATIONS. A deliberation relating
to meeting and conferring between a public employer and a police
officers association, a deliberation relating to an agreement or
proposed agreement under this subchapter by a quorum of a police
officers association authorized to meet and confer, or a
deliberation by a member of a public employer authorized to meet and
confer must be open to the public and comply with state law.
Sec. 142.064. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF
AGREEMENT. (a) An agreement under this subchapter is enforceable
and binding on the public employer, the recognized police officers
association, and the police officers covered by the meet and confer
agreement only if:
(1) the governing body of the municipality ratified
the agreement by a majority vote; and
(2) the recognized police officers association
ratified the agreement by conducting a secret ballot election at
which only the police officers of the municipality in the
association were eligible to vote, and a majority of the votes cast
at the election favored ratifying the agreement.
(b) A meet and confer 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 is located has jurisdiction to hear and resolve a
dispute under the ratified meet and confer 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. 142.065. ELECTION TO REPEAL AGREEMENT. (a) Not later
than the 60th day after the date a meet and confer agreement is
ratified by the governing body of the municipality and the
recognized police officers association, a petition calling for the
repeal of the agreement signed by a number of registered voters
residing in the municipality equal to at least 10 percent of the
votes cast at the most recent general election held in the
municipality may be presented to the person charged with ordering
an election under Section 3.004, Election Code.
(b) If a petition is presented under Subsection (a), the
governing body of the municipality shall:
(1) repeal the meet and confer agreement; or
(2) certify that it is not repealing the agreement and
call an election to determine whether to repeal the agreement.
(c) An election called under Subsection (b)(2) may be held
as part of the next regularly scheduled general election for the
municipality or at a special election called by the governing body
of the municipality for that purpose. The ballot shall be printed
to provide for voting for or against the proposition: "Repeal the
meet and confer agreement ratified on _____ (date agreement was
ratified) by the __________ (name of the governing body of the
municipality) and the police officers employed by the City of
__________ (name of municipality) concerning wages, salaries,
rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms of employment."
(d) If a majority of the votes cast at the election favor the
repeal of the agreement, the agreement is void.
Sec. 142.066. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
A written meet and confer 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 head of
the law enforcement agency or municipality or by a division or agent
of the municipality, such as a personnel board or a civil service
commission.
Sec. 142.067. EFFECT ON EXISTING BENEFITS. This subchapter
may not be construed as repealing any existing benefit provided by
statute or ordinance concerning police officers' compensation,
pensions, retirement plans, hours of work, conditions of
employment, or other emoluments, except as expressly provided in a
ratified meet and confer agreement. This subchapter is in addition
to the benefits provided by existing statutes and ordinances.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.