Amend CSHB 2730 (House Committee printing) by adding the
following appropriately numbered SECTION and renumbering
subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____. Section 411.007, Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(e) An officer or employee of the department may not be
discharged without just cause. The director shall determine
whether an officer or employee is to be discharged. An officer or
employee ordered discharged may appeal to the State Office of
Administrative Hearings [commission], and during the appeal the
officer or employee shall be suspended without pay. Except as
provided by Subsection (f), the department may not discharge,
suspend, or demote a commissioned officer except for the isolation
of a specific commission rule. If the department discharges,
suspends, or demotes an officer, the department shall deliver to
the officer a written statement giving the reasons for the action
taken. The written statement must point out each commission rule
alleged to have been violated by the officer and must describe the
alleged acts of the officer that the department contends are in
violation of the commission rules.
(f) The commission shall establish necessary policies and
procedures for the appointment, promotion, reduction, suspension,
and discharge of all employees. A discharged officer or employee is
entitled, on application to the commission, to a public hearing
before the State Office of Administrative Hearings. [commission,]
A proceeding under this section is a contested case governed by
Chapter 2001, Government Code, subject to judicial review by a
Travis County district court under the substantial evidence
standard of review, [who shall affirm or set aside the discharge.
The commission shall affirm or set aside a discharge on the basis of
the evidence presented. If the commission affirms the discharge,
the discharged officer may seek judicial review, not later than the
90th day after the date the commission affirms the discharge, in a
district court under the substantial evidence standard of review,]
and the officer remains suspended without pay while the case is
under judicial review. A noncommissioned employee inducted into
the service of the department is on probation for the first one year
of service, and an officer is on probation from the date the person
is inducted into the service of the department until the
anniversary of the date the person is commissioned. At any time
during the probationary period, a person may be discharged without
the public hearing provided for by this subsection if the director,
with the advice and consent of the commission, finds the person to
be unsuitable for the work.