| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the hiring of applicants for a beginning position in the |
|
|
fire department or police department in certain municipalities. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Sections 143.025(a), (b), (c), (h), and (j), |
|
|
Local Government Code, are amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) The commission shall provide for open, competitive, and |
|
|
free entrance examinations to add applicants to the applicable |
|
|
[provide] eligibility list [lists] for a beginning position |
|
|
[positions] in the fire or [and] police department [departments]. |
|
|
The examinations are open to each person who makes a proper |
|
|
application and meets the requirements prescribed by this chapter. |
|
|
(b) The [An] eligibility list for a beginning position in |
|
|
the fire or police department may be created only as a result of a |
|
|
competitive examination [held in the presence of each applicant for
|
|
|
the position, except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e)]. The |
|
|
examination must be based on the person's general knowledge and |
|
|
aptitude and must inquire into the applicant's general education |
|
|
and mental ability. A person may not be appointed to the fire or |
|
|
police department except as a result of the examination. |
|
|
(c) The commission shall adopt rules to standardize the |
|
|
procedures for entrance examinations. The rules must provide: |
|
|
(1) procedures for administering the exam: |
|
|
(A) in the department; or |
|
|
(B) at a professional testing site in this state |
|
|
or in another state; and |
|
|
(2) security protocols to prevent an unfair advantage |
|
|
to any applicant. [An applicant may not take an examination unless
|
|
|
at least one other applicant taking the examination is present.] |
|
|
(h) The commission shall keep each applicant who passes the |
|
|
examination on the eligibility list for a beginning position in the |
|
|
fire department or on the eligibility list for a beginning position |
|
|
in the police department, as applicable, [in effect] for a period of |
|
|
not less than six months or more than 12 months, unless the |
|
|
applicant is appointed to a beginning position in [names of all
|
|
|
applicants on the list have been referred to] the appropriate |
|
|
department. The commission shall determine the length of the |
|
|
period. The commission shall give new examinations at times the |
|
|
commission considers necessary to provide required staffing for |
|
|
scheduled fire or police training academies. |
|
|
(j) Notwithstanding Subsection (i), each applicant who is |
|
|
either a natural-born or adopted child of a fire fighter who |
|
|
previously suffered a line-of-duty death while covered by this |
|
|
chapter shall be ranked at the top of the [any] eligibility list if |
|
|
the [in which said] applicant receives a minimum passing grade on |
|
|
the [that respective] eligibility exam. The deceased fire |
|
|
fighter's applicant child must otherwise satisfy all of the |
|
|
requirements for eligibility for a beginning position in a fire |
|
|
department contained in this chapter. The [This] commission shall |
|
|
promulgate rules to identify and verify each applicant's |
|
|
eligibility for applicability of this subsection. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 143.026, Local Government Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 143.026. PROCEDURE FOR FILLING BEGINNING POSITIONS. |
|
|
(a) When a vacancy occurs in a beginning position in a fire or |
|
|
police department, [the department head shall request in writing
|
|
|
from the commission the names of suitable persons from the
|
|
|
eligibility list. The director shall certify to the municipality's
|
|
|
chief executive the names of the three persons having the highest
|
|
|
grades on the eligibility list.
|
|
|
[(b) From the three names certified,] the municipality's |
|
|
chief executive shall appoint the person having the highest grade |
|
|
on the entrance examination unless there is a valid reason not to |
|
|
[why the person having the second or third highest grade should be
|
|
|
appointed]. |
|
|
(b) [(c)] If the chief executive does not appoint the person |
|
|
having the highest grade, the chief executive shall clearly set |
|
|
forth in writing the good and sufficient reason why the person or |
|
|
persons having a higher [the highest] grade than the person |
|
|
appointed were [was] not appointed. |
|
|
(c) [(d)] The reason required by Subsection (b) [(c)] shall |
|
|
be filed with the commission and a copy provided to any [the] person |
|
|
having a higher [the highest] grade than the person appointed. [If
|
|
|
the chief executive appoints the person having the third highest
|
|
|
grade, a copy of the report shall also be furnished to the person
|
|
|
having the second highest grade.] |
|
|
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 143.083, Local Government |
|
|
Code, is amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 143.083. EMERGENCY APPOINTMENT OF TEMPORARY FIRE |
|
|
FIGHTERS [AND POLICE OFFICERS]. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Section 143.083(a), Local Government Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) If a municipality is unable to recruit qualified fire |
|
|
fighters [or police officers] because of the maximum age limit |
|
|
prescribed by Section 143.023 and the municipality's governing body |
|
|
finds that this inability creates an emergency, the commission |
|
|
shall recommend to the governing body additional rules governing |
|
|
the temporary employment of persons who are 36 years of age or |
|
|
older. |
|
|
SECTION 5. Sections 143.023(c), 143.024(b), and |
|
|
143.025(d), (e), and (g), Local Government Code, are repealed. |
|
|
SECTION 6. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to |
|
|
Section 143.025, Local Government Code, apply to an entrance |
|
|
examination administered on or after the effective date of this |
|
|
Act. An entrance examination administered before the effective |
|
|
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date that |
|
|
examination was administered with respect to the procedures for |
|
|
taking the examination, and the former law is continued in effect |
|
|
for that purpose. However, the changes in law made by this Act |
|
|
regarding the creation of a continuous eligibility list for a |
|
|
beginning position in a fire or police department apply on the |
|
|
effective date of this Act in relation to an examination given |
|
|
before, on, or after the effective date of this Act. |
|
|
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 143.026, |
|
|
Local Government Code, applies only to an appointment made on or |
|
|
after the effective date of this Act. An appointment made before |
|
|
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on |
|
|
the date the appointment was made, and the former law is continued |
|
|
in effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |