81R5855 JSC-D
By: England H.B. No. 3905
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the hiring of applicants for a beginning position in the
fire department or police department in certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 143.025(a), (b), (c), (h), and (j),
Local Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall provide for open, competitive, and
free entrance examinations to add applicants to the applicable
[provide] eligibility list [lists] for a beginning position
[positions] in the fire or [and] police department [departments].
The examinations are open to each person who makes a proper
application and meets the requirements prescribed by this chapter.
(b) The [An] eligibility list for a beginning position in
the fire or police department may be created only as a result of a
competitive examination [held in the presence of each applicant for
the position, except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e)]. The
examination must be based on the person's general knowledge and
aptitude and must inquire into the applicant's general education
and mental ability. A person may not be appointed to the fire or
police department except as a result of the examination.
(c) The commission shall adopt rules to standardize the
procedures for entrance examinations. The rules must provide:
(1) procedures for administering the exam:
(A) in the department; or
(B) at a professional testing site in this state
or in another state; and
(2) security protocols to prevent an unfair advantage
to any applicant. [An applicant may not take an examination unless
at least one other applicant taking the examination is present.]
(h) The commission shall keep each applicant who passes the
examination on the eligibility list for a beginning position in the
fire department or on the eligibility list for a beginning position
in the police department, as applicable, [in effect] for a period of
not less than six months or more than 12 months, unless the
applicant is appointed to a beginning position in [names of all
applicants on the list have been referred to] the appropriate
department. The commission shall determine the length of the
period. The commission shall give new examinations at times the
commission considers necessary to provide required staffing for
scheduled fire or police training academies.
(j) Notwithstanding Subsection (i), each applicant who is
either a natural-born or adopted child of a fire fighter who
previously suffered a line-of-duty death while covered by this
chapter shall be ranked at the top of the [any] eligibility list if
the [in which said] applicant receives a minimum passing grade on
the [that respective] eligibility exam. The deceased fire
fighter's applicant child must otherwise satisfy all of the
requirements for eligibility for a beginning position in a fire
department contained in this chapter. The [This] commission shall
promulgate rules to identify and verify each applicant's
eligibility for applicability of this subsection.
SECTION 2. Section 143.026, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 143.026. PROCEDURE FOR FILLING BEGINNING POSITIONS.
(a) When a vacancy occurs in a beginning position in a fire or
police department, [the department head shall request in writing
from the commission the names of suitable persons from the
eligibility list. The director shall certify to the municipality's
chief executive the names of the three persons having the highest
grades on the eligibility list.
[(b) From the three names certified,] the municipality's
chief executive shall appoint the person having the highest grade
on the entrance examination unless there is a valid reason not to
[why the person having the second or third highest grade should be
appointed].
(b) [(c)] If the chief executive does not appoint the person
having the highest grade, the chief executive shall clearly set
forth in writing the good and sufficient reason why the person or
persons having a higher [the highest] grade than the person
appointed were [was] not appointed.
(c) [(d)] The reason required by Subsection (b) [(c)] shall
be filed with the commission and a copy provided to any [the] person
having a higher [the highest] grade than the person appointed. [If
the chief executive appoints the person having the third highest
grade, a copy of the report shall also be furnished to the person
having the second highest grade.]
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 143.083, Local Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 143.083. EMERGENCY APPOINTMENT OF TEMPORARY FIRE
FIGHTERS [AND POLICE OFFICERS].
SECTION 4. Section 143.083(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) If a municipality is unable to recruit qualified fire
fighters [or police officers] because of the maximum age limit
prescribed by Section 143.023 and the municipality's governing body
finds that this inability creates an emergency, the commission
shall recommend to the governing body additional rules governing
the temporary employment of persons who are 36 years of age or
older.
SECTION 5. Sections 143.023(c), 143.024(b), and
143.025(d), (e), and (g), Local Government Code, are repealed.
SECTION 6. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Section 143.025, Local Government Code, apply to an entrance
examination administered on or after the effective date of this
Act. An entrance examination administered before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date that
examination was administered with respect to the procedures for
taking the examination, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose. However, the changes in law made by this Act
regarding the creation of a continuous eligibility list for a
beginning position in a fire or police department apply on the
effective date of this Act in relation to an examination given
before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 143.026,
Local Government Code, applies only to an appointment made on or
after the effective date of this Act. An appointment made before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the appointment was made, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.