By: Carona S.B. No. 376
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Department of
Transportation related to county traffic officers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 701.006, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 701.006. [COMPLAINT; HEARING;] DISMISSAL. [(a) If
a county traffic officer fails to perform the officer's duty to
enforce the law, the district engineer of the Texas Department of
Transportation district in which the officer operates may send a
written, signed complaint to the commissioners court.
[(b) On receipt of the complaint, the commissioners court
shall hold a hearing and summon the officer to appear before it.
[(c) If the commissioners court determines at the hearing
that the officer has not performed the officer's duty, the
commissioners court shall immediately discharge the officer and
promptly employ another officer.
[(d)] The commissioners court on its own initiative, or on
recommendation of the sheriff, may dismiss a county traffic officer
if the officer is no longer needed or if the officer's service is
unsatisfactory.
SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 701.002, Transportation
Code, is repealed.
SECTION 3. 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.