By: Kolkhorst, Cook, Darby H.B. No. 988

(Senate Sponsor - Whitmire)

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 18, 2011; April 20, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice; May 9, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 9, 2011, sent to printer.)

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to compensatory time accrued by a correctional officer employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 659.015, Government Code, is amended by amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (k) to read as follows:

(g) Except as provided by Subsection (k), compensatory [Compensatory] time off to which an employee is entitled under Subsection (f) must be taken during the 12-month period following the end of the workweek in which the compensatory time was accrued or it lapses. An employee may not be paid for that compensatory time, except as provided by this subsection and Subsections (i) and (j). An employee of an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, or an employee engaged in a public safety activity, including highway construction and maintenance or an emergency response activity, may be paid at the employee's regular rate of pay for that compensatory time if the employer determines that taking the compensatory time off would disrupt normal teaching, research, or other critical functions.

(k) Compensatory time off to which a correctional officer employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is entitled under Subsection (f) must be taken during the 24-month period following the end of the workweek in which the compensatory time was accrued or it lapses.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.

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