By: Harris (Senate Sponsor - Hughes) H.B. No. 3216
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2021;
  May 17, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on State
  Affairs; May 21, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 21, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to legislative leave for certain peace officers
  commissioned by the Parks and Wildlife Department.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 11, Parks and Wildlife
  Code, is amended by adding Section 11.0183 to read as follows:
         Sec. 11.0183.  DONATION OF ACCRUED COMPENSATORY TIME OR
  ACCRUED ANNUAL LEAVE FOR LEGISLATIVE PURPOSES. (a) The director
  shall allow a peace officer commissioned by the department to
  voluntarily transfer to a legislative leave pool up to eight hours
  of compensatory time or annual leave per year earned by the peace
  officer.
         (b)  The director or the director's designee shall
  administer the legislative leave pool.
         (c)  The commission shall adopt rules and prescribe
  procedures relating to the operation of the legislative leave pool.
         (d)  The director or the director's designee shall credit the
  legislative leave pool with the amount of time contributed by a
  peace officer commissioned by the department and deduct a
  corresponding amount of time from the peace officer's earned
  compensatory time or annual leave as if the peace officer had used
  the time for personal purposes.
         (e)  A peace officer commissioned by the department is
  entitled to use time contributed to the legislative leave pool if
  the peace officer uses the time for legislative leave on behalf of a
  law enforcement association:
               (1)  related to the peace officer's employment with the
  department;
               (2)  that has at least 300 active or retired members;
  and
               (3)  that is governed by a board of directors.
         (f)  The director or the director's designee shall transfer
  time from the pool to the peace officer and credit the time to the
  peace officer.
         (g)  A peace officer commissioned by the department may only
  withdraw time from the legislative leave pool in coordination with
  and with the consent of the president or designee of the law
  enforcement association described in Subsection (e). A peace
  officer may not draw more than 80 hours from the pool in a 160-hour
  work cycle and may not draw more than 480 hours from the pool in a
  fiscal year.
         (h)  A peace officer commissioned by the department shall use
  time from the legislative leave pool in accordance with rules
  adopted by the commission.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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