This website will be unavailable from Thursday, May 30, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, June 3, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.
79R2751 YDB-F
By: Driver H.B. No. 1588
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the qualifications and removal of and continuing
education requirements for a constable.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 86.0021(a) and (b), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A person is not eligible to serve as constable unless
the person:
(1) has a bachelor's degree conferred by an
institution of higher education accredited by an accrediting
organization recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board [high school diploma or a high school equivalency
certificate]; or [and]
(2) holds an active permanent peace officer license
[is eligible to be licensed] under Chapter 1701 [Sections 1701.309
and 1701.312], Occupations Code.
(b) On or before the 270th day after the date a constable who
is eligible to serve as a constable under Subsection (a)(1) takes
office or on the day a constable who is eligible to serve as a
constable under Subsection (a)(2) takes office, the constable shall
provide, to the commissioners court of the county in which the
constable serves or is to serve, evidence that the constable holds
an active [has been issued a] permanent peace officer license under
Chapter 1701, Occupations Code. A constable who fails to provide
evidence of licensure under this subsection or who fails to
maintain a permanent license while serving in office forfeits the
office and is subject to removal in a quo warranto proceeding under
Chapter 66, Civil Practice and Remedies Code. The judge of the
district court who removes a constable under this subsection may
appoint an eligible successor to serve the remainder of the
constable's term.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 96, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 96.642 to read as follows:
Sec. 96.642. INITIAL TRAINING AND CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR
CONSTABLES. (a) The Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management
Institute of Texas shall establish and offer a program of initial
training and a program of continuing education for constables. The
curriculum for each program must relate to law enforcement
management and civil process issues. The institute shall develop
the curriculum for the programs. The curriculum must be approved by
the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.
(b) Each constable must complete at least 40 hours of
continuing education provided by the institute under this section
each 48-month period.
(c) An individual appointed or elected to that individual's
first position as constable must complete at least 40 hours of
initial training for new constables in accordance with Subsections
(d) and (e).
(d) A newly appointed or elected constable shall complete
the initial training program for new constables not later than the
second anniversary of that individual's appointment or election as
constable. The initial training program for new constables is in
addition to the initial training required by Chapter 1701,
Occupations Code. The first 48-month period under Subsection (b)
begins, for an individual who completes the initial training
program for new constables under this section, on the first
anniversary of the date the individual completed the initial
training program.
(e) The institute by rule may provide for the waiver of:
(1) all or part of the required 40 hours of initial
training for new constables to the extent the new constable has
satisfactorily completed equivalent training during the 24 months
preceding the individual's appointment or election; or
(2) the continuing education requirements of
Subsection (b) for an individual who has satisfactorily completed
equivalent continuing education during the preceding 24 months.
(f) An individual who is subject to the continuing education
requirements of Subsection (b) is exempt from other continuing
education requirements under Subchapter H, Chapter 1701,
Occupations Code.
(g) The Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
Education shall establish procedures to ensure that constables
comply with this section and forward to the attorney general's
office documentation for each constable who does not comply with
this section. A constable who does not comply with this section
forfeits the office and the attorney general shall institute a quo
warranto proceeding under Chapter 66, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, to remove the constable from office.
(h) To the extent of a conflict between this section and any
other law, this section controls.
SECTION 3. Section 1701.354, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.354. CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR [CONSTABLES AND]
DEPUTY CONSTABLES. (a) If the commission requires a state, county,
special district, or municipal agency that employs a [constable or]
deputy constable to provide the [constable or] deputy constable
with a training program under Section 1701.352, the commission
shall require the [constable or] deputy constable to attend at
least 20 hours of instruction in civil process.
(b) The commission shall adopt rules and procedures
concerning a civil process course, including rules providing for:
(1) approval of course content and standards; and
(2) issuance of course credit.
(c) [For the purposes of removal of a constable under
Subchapter B, Chapter 87, Local Government Code, a constable is
considered to be incompetent if the constable fails to complete the
hours of instruction required by this section.
[(d)] The commission may waive the requirement that a
[constable or] deputy constable complete the instruction required
by this section if:
(1) the [constable or] deputy constable requests a
waiver because of hardship; and
(2) the commission determines that a hardship exists.
SECTION 4. (a) Not later than January 1, 2006, the Bill
Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas shall
establish the initial training and continuing education programs
required by Section 96.642, Education Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Section 96.642(c), Education Code, as added by this Act,
requiring newly appointed or elected constables to complete at
least 40 hours of initial training, applies only to an individual
newly appointed or elected as constable who takes office on or after
January 1, 2006.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
86.0021, Local Government Code, do not apply to a constable serving
a term that began before the effective date of this Act. A
constable serving a term that began before the effective date of
this Act is governed for the remainder of that term by the
applicable law that existed immediately before the effective date
of this Act, and the prior law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.