88R4748 BDP-D
 
  By: Cook H.B. No. 1651
 
 
 
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 of trustees 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 of trustees 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, 2023.