| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the eligibility for custodial officer service in the |
|
|
Employees Retirement System of Texas of juvenile justice officers |
|
|
employed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 811.001(8), Government Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(8) "Custodial officer" means, subject to Section |
|
|
811.0011, a member of the retirement system who is employed by the |
|
|
Board of Pardons and Paroles or the Texas Department of Criminal |
|
|
Justice as a parole officer or caseworker or who is employed by the |
|
|
correctional institutions division of the Texas Department of |
|
|
Criminal Justice and certified by the department as having a normal |
|
|
job assignment that requires frequent or infrequent regularly |
|
|
planned contact with, and in close proximity to, inmates or |
|
|
defendants of the correctional institutions division without the |
|
|
protection of bars, doors, security screens, or similar devices and |
|
|
includes assignments normally involving supervision or the |
|
|
potential for supervision of inmates in inmate housing areas, |
|
|
educational or recreational facilities, industrial shops, |
|
|
kitchens, laundries, medical areas, agricultural shops or fields, |
|
|
or in other areas on or away from property of the department. The |
|
|
term includes a member who transfers from the Texas Department of |
|
|
Criminal Justice to the managed health care unit of The University |
|
|
of Texas Medical Branch or the Texas Tech University Health |
|
|
Sciences Center pursuant to Section 9.01, Chapter 238, Acts of the |
|
|
73rd Legislature, 1993, elects at the time of transfer to retain |
|
|
membership in the retirement system, and is certified by the |
|
|
managed health care unit or the health sciences center as having a |
|
|
normal job assignment described by this subdivision. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 811, Government Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 811.0011 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 811.0011. OPTIONAL ALTERNATIVE DEFINITION OF |
|
|
CUSTODIAL OFFICER. (a) For purposes of this section, "juvenile |
|
|
justice officer" means a member of the retirement system who is |
|
|
employed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and certified by |
|
|
that department as holding a position as a juvenile correctional |
|
|
officer, caseworker, or other position the primary duties of which |
|
|
include the custodial supervision of or other close, regularly |
|
|
planned contact with youth in the custody of that department. |
|
|
(b) The board of trustees by rule may adopt an alternative |
|
|
definition of "custodial officer" that includes juvenile justice |
|
|
officers for purposes of allowing juvenile justice officers to |
|
|
participate in the law enforcement and custodial officer |
|
|
supplemental retirement fund if the board determines, after |
|
|
conducting an actuarial valuation, that: |
|
|
(1) the amortization period for the unfunded actuarial |
|
|
liabilities of the retirement system and the law enforcement and |
|
|
custodial officer supplemental retirement fund does not exceed 30 |
|
|
years by one or more years; and |
|
|
(2) approving juvenile justice officers for |
|
|
participation in the law enforcement and custodial officer |
|
|
supplemental retirement fund would not reduce or negatively impact |
|
|
current benefits paid to members of the retirement system and law |
|
|
enforcement and custodial officer supplemental retirement fund. |
|
|
(c) Notwithstanding Section 813.506, if the board of |
|
|
trustees adopts a rule under Subsection (b), the board, after |
|
|
consulting with the Texas Juvenile Justice Board, by rule shall |
|
|
adopt standards for determining eligibility of a juvenile justice |
|
|
officer for service credit as a custodial officer, based on the need |
|
|
to encourage early retirement of persons whose duties are hazardous |
|
|
and require them to have routine contact with youth in the custody |
|
|
of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department on a regular basis. The |
|
|
board shall determine a juvenile justice officer's eligibility to |
|
|
receive credit as a custodial officer. A determination by the board |
|
|
may not be appealed by an employee. |
|
|
(d) The board shall provide notice to the Texas Juvenile |
|
|
Justice Department of the adoption of a rule under Subsection (b), |
|
|
and the department, after receiving notice, shall: |
|
|
(1) certify to the retirement system, in the manner |
|
|
prescribed by the retirement system, the name of each person |
|
|
employed by the department in the position of juvenile justice |
|
|
officer and any other information the system determines is |
|
|
necessary to credit service and finance benefits under this |
|
|
subtitle; and |
|
|
(2) beginning with the first pay period that occurs |
|
|
after the board provides notice under this subsection, begin making |
|
|
deductions and collecting the contributions for the law enforcement |
|
|
and custodial officer supplemental retirement fund as provided by |
|
|
Section 815.402(h). |
|
|
(e) If the board adopts a rule under Subsection (b), the |
|
|
board shall ensure that service credit established by a juvenile |
|
|
justice officer before the date of the rule's adoption is |
|
|
considered service credit established as a custodial officer for |
|
|
purposes of determining the officer's eligibility for benefits |
|
|
under the law enforcement and custodial officer supplemental |
|
|
retirement fund. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |