By: Whitmire S.B. No. 1744
(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2009; March 20, 2009, read
first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
May 6, 2009, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6,
Nays 0; May 6, 2009, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to conditions of employment for law enforcement officers
and corrections officers employed by certain counties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 161 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 161. LOCAL CONTROL OF SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT EMPLOYMENT
MATTERS IN CERTAIN COUNTIES
Sec. 161.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
a county with a population of 3.3 million or more that:
(1) employs law enforcement officers or corrections
officers covered by Subchapter B, Chapter 158; and
(2) contains a municipality with a population of more
than 600,000 that has adopted Chapter 174 for its fire department,
police department, or both.
Sec. 161.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Association" means an employee organization in
which law enforcement officers or corrections officers employed by
a sheriff's department, or both, participate and that exists for
the purpose, wholly or partly, of dealing with the county or the
sheriff concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay,
hours of work, or conditions of work affecting law enforcement
officers or corrections officers, or both, as applicable.
(2) "Corrections officer" means a person employed by a
sheriff's department whose primary duties include the direct
supervision of inmates in a county jail or another detention
facility maintained by a sheriff's department. The term is not
limited to a person who is a peace officer under Article 2.12, Code
of Criminal Procedure.
(3) "Law enforcement officer" means a person who is
employed by a sheriff's department as a peace officer under Article
2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, and whose primary duties include
the enforcement of the law, investigation of crime, and service of
criminal warrants or civil process.
(4) "Public employer" means the commissioners court of
the county that is required to establish the wages, salaries, rates
of pay, hours of work, working conditions, and other terms and
conditions of employment of law enforcement officers or corrections
officers employed by the sheriff's department.
Sec. 161.003. PETITION FOR RECOGNITION: ELECTION OR ACTION
BY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. (a) Not later than the 30th day after the
date the commissioners court of a county receives a petition signed
by the majority of all law enforcement officers and corrections
officers, excluding the employees exempt under Section 161.006(b),
requesting recognition of an association or associations as the
exclusive bargaining agent for the nonexempt law enforcement
officers or corrections officers as described by Subsection (b),
the commissioners court shall:
(1) grant recognition of the association or
associations as requested in the petition and find that the public
employers may meet and confer under this chapter without conducting
an election by the voters in the county under Section 161.004; or
(2) defer granting recognition of the association or
associations and order an election by the voters in the county under
Section 161.004 regarding whether the public employers may meet and
confer under this chapter.
(b) The petition described by Subsection (a) must state
whether the petitioners request recognition of:
(1) one association to represent all law enforcement
officers and corrections officers employed by the sheriff's
department, excluding the officers exempt under Section
161.006(b); or
(2) two associations, with:
(A) one association to exclusively represent law
enforcement officers employed by a sheriff's department, excluding
the officers exempt under Section 161.006(b); and
(B) one association to exclusively represent
corrections officers employed by a sheriff's department, excluding
the officers exempt under Section 161.006(b).
(c) The commissioners court may not consider a petition for
recognition of two associations as requested under Subsection
(b)(2) unless:
(1) the total number of law enforcement officers
employed by the sheriff's department constitutes 10 percent or more
of the total number of law enforcement officers and corrections
officers employed by the sheriff's department;
(2) the total number of corrections officers employed
by the sheriff's department constitutes 10 percent or more of the
total number of law enforcement officers and corrections officers
employed by the sheriff's department;
(3) the petitioners request recognition of:
(A) one association to exclusively represent all
law enforcement officers; and
(B) one association to exclusively represent all
corrections officers; and
(4) the commissioners court considers each petition
described by Subdivision (3) at the same time, and both petitions
are granted or denied at that time.
Sec. 161.004. ELECTION TO AUTHORIZE OPERATING UNDER THIS
CHAPTER. (a) The commissioners court of a county that receives a
petition for recognition under Section 161.003 may order an
election to determine whether the public employers may meet and
confer under this chapter.
(b) An election under this section must be held on the first
authorized uniform election date prescribed by Chapter 41, Election
Code, that occurs after the date the commissioners court orders the
election and that allows sufficient time to comply with other
requirements of law.
(c) The ballot for an election called under this section
shall be printed to allow voting for or against the proposition:
"Authorizing ____________ (name of the commissioners court of the
county) to operate under the state law allowing the (name of the
commissioners court of the county) to meet and confer and make
agreements with (name of the association or associations) as the
exclusive bargaining agent representing nonexempt law enforcement
officers and corrections officers as provided by state law,
preserving the prohibition against strikes and lockouts, and
providing penalties for strikes and lockouts."
(d) An election called under this section shall be held and
the returns prepared and canvassed in conformity with the Election
Code.
(e) If an election authorized under this section is held,
the county may operate under the other provisions of this chapter
only if a majority of the votes cast at the election favor the
proposition.
(f) If an election authorized under this section is held, an
association or associations may not submit a petition for
recognition to the commissioners court of the county under Section
161.003 before the first anniversary of the date of the election.
Sec. 161.005. STRIKES PROHIBITED. (a) A law enforcement
officer or corrections officer may not engage in a strike or
organized work stoppage against this state or the county.
(b) A law enforcement officer or corrections officer who
participates in a strike forfeits any civil service rights,
reemployment rights, and other rights, benefits, or privileges the
officer may have as a result of the officer's employment or prior
employment with the county.
(c) This section does not affect the right of a person to
cease work if the person is not acting in concert with others in an
organized work stoppage.
Sec. 161.006. RECOGNITION OF ASSOCIATION BY PUBLIC
EMPLOYER. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a public
employer in a county that chooses to meet and confer under this
chapter shall recognize an association that is recognized under
Section 161.003 as the exclusive bargaining agent for the covered
law enforcement officers or corrections officers, or both, under
this chapter. The covered officers are the officers described in
the applicable petition for recognition, but the covered officers
do not include the employees exempt under Subsection (b).
(b) For the purposes of Subsection (a), exempt employees are
the sheriff and the employees that the sheriff designates as exempt
in the manner prescribed by Subchapter B, Chapter 158, or that are
exempt by the mutual agreement of the recognized association and
the sheriff.
(c) The public employer shall recognize the association
until:
(1) if an association is recognized under Section
161.003(b)(1), recognition of the association is withdrawn by a
majority of the law enforcement officers and corrections officers;
or
(2) if an association is recognized under Section
161.003(b)(2):
(A) recognition of the association is withdrawn
by a majority of the law enforcement officers or corrections
officers, as applicable; or
(B) the total number of law enforcement officers
employed by the sheriff's department or the total number of
corrections officers employed by the sheriff's department
decreases to an amount that is less than 10 percent of the total
number of law enforcement officers and corrections officers
employed by the sheriff's department.
(d) If recognition of an association is withdrawn as
provided by Subsection (c)(2), the association exclusively
representing the law enforcement officers shall merge with the
association exclusively representing corrections officers.
Sec. 161.007. SELECTION OF BARGAINING AGENT; PUBLIC
EMPLOYER BARGAINING TEAM. (a) Each public employer's chief
executive officer or the chief executive officer's designee shall
select one or more persons to represent the public employer as its
exclusive bargaining agent to meet and confer on issues related to
the wages, hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of
employment of law enforcement officers and corrections officers for
whom the public employer is responsible. The sheriff may represent
the office of the sheriff or select one or more persons to represent
the sheriff as the exclusive bargaining agent to meet and confer on
issues related to the wages, hours of employment, and other terms
and conditions of employment of law enforcement officers and
corrections officers.
(b) An association recognized under this chapter may
designate one or more persons to negotiate or bargain on its behalf.
(c) The representatives of each public employer that has
selected one or more persons under Subsection (a) may form a
bargaining team. The team may negotiate provisions applicable to
all represented public employers. Appropriate representatives on
the team may negotiate provisions applicable to only one public
employer or to some but not all of the represented public employers.
(d) An association recognized under this chapter to
represent law enforcement officers and an association recognized
under this chapter to represent corrections officers may form a
bargaining team. The team may negotiate an agreement with any
public employer or the sheriff.
Sec. 161.008. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS.
(a) A county may not be denied local control over the wages,
salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or other terms and conditions
of employment to the extent a public employer that is a party to the
agreement and an association recognized as an exclusive bargaining
agent agree as provided by this chapter, if the agreement is
ratified and not repealed under this chapter. Applicable statutes
and applicable local orders, ordinances, and civil service rules
apply to an issue not governed by the agreement.
(b) A meet and confer agreement under this chapter must be
written.
(c) This chapter does not require a public employer or a
recognized association to meet and confer on any issue or reach an
agreement.
(d) A public employer and a recognized association may meet
and confer only if the association does not advocate an illegal
strike.
Sec. 161.009. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed meet and
confer agreement and a document prepared and used by the public
employer in connection with the proposed agreement are available to
the public under Chapter 552, Government Code, only after the
agreement is ratified by the commissioners court of the county.
(b) This section does not affect the application of
Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared
and used by the public employer in connection with the agreement.
Sec. 161.010. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF
AGREEMENT. (a) A meet and confer agreement under this chapter is
enforceable and binding on the public employer, the applicable
recognized association, and the law enforcement officers or
corrections officers, or both, covered by the agreement only if:
(1) the commissioners court of the county ratified the
agreement by a majority vote; and
(2) the applicable recognized association ratified
the agreement by conducting a secret ballot election at which only
the law enforcement officers or corrections officers, or both, that
were represented by the association were eligible to vote, and a
majority of the votes cast at the election favored ratifying the
agreement.
(b) A meet and confer agreement ratified as described by
Subsection (a) may establish a procedure by which the parties agree
to resolve disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation
provided by the agreement, including binding arbitration on a
question involving interpretation of the agreement.
(c) A meet and confer agreement under this chapter is
enforceable and binding on the sheriff, the applicable recognized
association, and the law enforcement officers or corrections
officers, or both, covered by the agreement only if:
(1) the sheriff ratified the agreement by written
signature; and
(2) the applicable recognized association ratified
the agreement by conducting a secret ballot in the manner described
by Subsection (a)(2).
(d) A state district court of a judicial district in which
the county is located has jurisdiction to hear and resolve a dispute
under the ratified meet and confer agreement on the application of a
party to the agreement aggrieved by an action or omission of the
other party when the action or omission is related to a right, duty,
or obligation provided by the agreement. The court may issue proper
restraining orders, temporary and permanent injunctions, or any
other writ, order, or process, including contempt orders, that are
appropriate to enforcing the agreement.
Sec. 161.011. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
A written meet and confer agreement ratified under this chapter
preempts, during the term of the agreement and to the extent of any
conflict, all contrary state statutes, executive orders, civil
service provisions, or rules adopted by a personnel board or a civil
service commission.
Sec. 161.012. PROTECTED RIGHTS. (a) For any disciplinary
appeal, a covered law enforcement officer or corrections officer
may be represented by a recognized association or by any person
chosen by the officer.
(b) A meet and confer agreement ratified under this chapter
may not interfere with the right of a covered law enforcement
officer or corrections officer to pursue allegations of
discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin,
religion, age, sex, or disability with the Texas Workforce
Commission civil rights division or the federal Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action litigation.
Sec. 161.013. ELECTION TO REPEAL AGREEMENT. (a) Not later
than the 60th day after the date a meet and confer agreement is
ratified by the public employer and a recognized association, a
petition calling for the repeal of the agreement signed by at least
10 percent of the registered voters residing in the county may be
presented to the commissioners court.
(b) If a petition is presented under Subsection (a), the
commissioners court shall order an election by the voters in the
county to determine whether to repeal the meet and confer
agreement.
(c) An election ordered under Subsection (b) shall be held
as part of the next regularly scheduled general election for the
county for which there remains sufficient time to add the question
to the ballot. The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting
for or against the proposition: "Repeal the meet and confer
agreement ratified on _____ (date agreement was ratified) by the
commissioners court and __________ (name of the association)
concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other
terms of employment of certain county _____ (law enforcement
officers or corrections officers or law enforcement officers and
corrections officers, as applicable)."
(d) If a majority of the votes cast at the election favor the
repeal of the meet and confer agreement, the agreement is void.
(e) A public employer and a recognized association may not
negotiate a new meet and confer agreement before the 181st day after
the date a meet and confer agreement is repealed at an election
under this section.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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