81R12302 SLB-F
By: Frost H.B. No. 3174
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of certain telecommunicators; providing
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1701.003(c), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) This chapter does not prevent an employing agency from
establishing qualifications and standards for hiring or training
officers, [and] county jailers, or telecommunicators that exceed
the commission's minimum standards.
SECTION 2. Section 1701.151, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.151. GENERAL POWERS OF COMMISSION; RULEMAKING
AUTHORITY. The commission may:
(1) adopt rules for the administration of this chapter
and for the commission's internal management and control;
(2) establish minimum standards relating to
competence and reliability, including education, training,
physical, mental, and moral standards, for licensing as an officer,
county jailer, telecommunicator, or public security officer;
(3) report to the governor and legislature on the
commission's activities, with recommendations on matters under the
commission's jurisdiction, and make other reports that the
commission considers desirable;
(4) require a state agency or a county, special
district, or municipality in this state that employs officers,
telecommunicators, or county jailers to submit reports and
information;
(5) contract as the commission considers necessary for
services, facilities, studies, and reports required for:
(A) cooperation with municipal, county, special
district, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in training
programs; and
(B) performance of the commission's other
functions; and
(6) conduct research and stimulate research by public
and private agencies to improve law enforcement and police
administration.
SECTION 3. Section 1701.153(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall establish reporting standards and
procedures for:
(1) appointment and termination of officers, [and]
county jailers, and telecommunicators by law enforcement agencies;
(2) the activities of licensed training schools; and
(3) other matters the commission considers necessary
for the administration of this chapter.
SECTION 4. Sections 1701.251(a) and (c), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall establish and maintain training
programs for officers, telecommunicators, and county jailers. The
training shall be conducted by the commission staff or by other
agencies and institutions the commission considers appropriate.
(c) The commission may:
(1) issue or revoke the license of a school operated by
or for this state or a political subdivision of this state
specifically for training officers, county jailers,
telecommunicators, or recruits;
(2) operate schools and conduct preparatory,
in-service, basic, and advanced courses in the schools, as the
commission determines appropriate, for officers, county jailers,
telecommunicators, and recruits;
(3) issue a license to a person to act as a qualified
instructor under conditions that the commission prescribes; and
(4) consult and cooperate with a municipality, county,
special district, state agency or other governmental agency, or a
university, college, junior college, or other institution,
concerning the development of schools and training programs for
officers, telecommunicators, and county jailers.
SECTION 5. Sections 1701.254(a) and (b), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission may visit and inspect a school conducting
a training course for officers, county jailers, telecommunicators,
or recruits and make necessary evaluations to determine if the
school complies with this chapter and commission rules.
(b) The commission shall develop a risk assessment method to
determine the relative performance of schools conducting training
courses for officers, county jailers, telecommunicators, or
recruits. The commission shall base its schedule for inspection of
schools on the results of the risk assessment.
SECTION 6. Section 1701.301, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.301. LICENSE REQUIRED. Except as provided by
Sections 1701.310 and 1701.311, a person may not appoint a person to
serve as an officer, county jailer, telecommunicator, or public
security officer unless the person appointed holds an appropriate
license issued by the commission.
SECTION 7. Section 1701.303(b), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A person who appoints an officer, telecommunicator, or
county jailer licensed by the commission shall notify the
commission not later than the 30th day after the date of the
appointment. If the person appoints an individual who previously
served as an officer, telecommunicator, or county jailer and the
appointment occurs after the 180th day after the last date of
service as an officer, telecommunicator, or county jailer, the
person must have on file for the officer, telecommunicator, or
county jailer in a form readily accessible to the commission:
(1) new criminal history record information;
(2) a new declaration of psychological and emotional
health and lack of drug dependency or illegal drug use; and
(3) two completed fingerprint cards.
SECTION 8. Section 1701.304(b), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The commission by rule shall establish minimum
qualifications for a person to be examined under this section. A
person who is disqualified by law to be an officer,
telecommunicator, or county jailer may not take an examination
under this section.
SECTION 9. Sections 1701.306(a) and (b), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission may not issue a license to a person as an
officer, telecommunicator, or county jailer unless the person is
examined by:
(1) a licensed psychologist or by a psychiatrist who
declares in writing that the person is in satisfactory
psychological and emotional health to serve as the type of officer
for which a license is sought; and
(2) a licensed physician who declares in writing that
the person does not show any trace of drug dependency or illegal
drug use after a physical examination, blood test, or other medical
test.
(b) An agency hiring a person for whom a license as an
officer, telecommunicator, or county jailer is sought shall select
the examining physician and the examining psychologist or
psychiatrist. The agency shall prepare a report of each
declaration required by Subsection (a) and shall maintain a copy of
the report on file in a format readily accessible to the commission.
A declaration is not public information.
SECTION 10. Section 1701.307(c), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The commission may issue a temporary or permanent
license to a person to serve as a county jailer or telecommunicator.
SECTION 11. Section 1701.312(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who has been convicted of a felony is
disqualified to be an officer, public security officer,
telecommunicator, or county jailer, and the commission may not
issue a license to, and a law enforcement agency may not appoint or
employ, the person.
SECTION 12. Section 1701.313(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who has been convicted of barratry under
Section 38.12, Penal Code, is disqualified to be an officer,
telecommunicator, or county jailer, and the commission may not
issue a license to the person.
SECTION 13. Section 1701.315, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.315. RECORDS. The commission is entitled to
access to records maintained under Sections 1701.303, 1701.306, and
1701.310 by an agency hiring a person to be an officer,
telecommunicator, or county jailer, including records that relate
to age, education, physical standards, citizenship, experience,
and other matters relating to competence and reliability, as
evidence of qualification for licensing of an officer,
telecommunicator, or county jailer.
SECTION 14. Section 1701.352, Occupations Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
follows:
(a) The commission shall recognize, prepare, or administer
continuing education programs for officers, telecommunicators, and
county jailers.
(g) The commission shall require a state, county, special
district, or municipal agency that employs telecommunicators to
provide each telecommunicator 24 hours of crisis communications
instruction approved by the commission. The instruction must be
provided on or before the first anniversary of the
telecommunicator's first day of employment.
SECTION 15. Section 1701.401(c), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The commission shall adopt rules for issuing
achievement awards to peace officers, reserve peace officers,
jailers, telecommunicators, or custodial officers who are licensed
by the commission. The commission's rules shall require
recommendations from an elected official of this state or a
political subdivision, an administrator of a law enforcement
agency, or a person holding a license issued by the commission.
SECTION 16. Section 1701.402(b), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) As a requirement for a basic proficiency certificate,
the commission shall require completion of local courses or
programs of instruction on federal and state statutes that relate
to employment issues affecting peace officers, telecommunicators,
and county jailers, including:
(1) civil service;
(2) compensation, including overtime compensation,
and vacation time;
(3) personnel files and other employee records;
(4) management-employee relations in law enforcement
organizations;
(5) work-related injuries;
(6) complaints and investigations of employee
misconduct; and
(7) disciplinary actions and the appeal of
disciplinary actions.
SECTION 17. Sections 1701.405(b) and (e), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) This state or a political subdivision of this state may
not appoint or employ a person to act as a telecommunicator unless
the person:
(1) has had at least 40 hours of telecommunicator
training as determined by the commission;
(2) is at least 18 years of age; and
(3) holds a high school diploma or high school
equivalency certificate.
(e) This section does not apply to a person who:
(1) performs the duties of a telecommunicator; and
(2) is employed by a law enforcement agency that[:
[(A) employs 20 or fewer employees; or
[(B)] does not perform law enforcement services
on a 24-hour basis.
SECTION 18. Section 1701.551(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person appoints or
retains another person as an officer, telecommunicator, or county
jailer in violation of Section 1701.301, 1701.303, or 1701.306.
SECTION 19. Section 1701.553(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person appoints or
retains an individual as an officer, public security officer,
telecommunicator, or county jailer in violation of Section 1701.312
or 1701.313.
SECTION 20. (a) Not later than December 1, 2009, the Texas
Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education by
rule shall adopt requirements for a telecommunicator license under
Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, as amended by this Act.
(b) A person is not required to hold a license under Section
1701.301, Occupations Code, as amended by this Act, until January
1, 2010.
SECTION 21. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
1701.551 and 1701.553, Occupations Code, apply only to offenses
committed on or after January 1, 2010. An offense committed before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when
the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 22. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.