83R5295 SCL-F
By: Martinez H.B. No. 1092
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the disciplinary suspension of firefighters and police
officers in certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 143.052(g), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(g) If offered by the department head, the fire fighter or
police officer may agree in writing to voluntarily accept, with no
right of appeal, a suspension of 16 to 90 calendar days for the
violation of a civil service rule. The department head may not
impose any additional condition on the offer of suspension unless
the right to appeal the condition is retained. The fire fighter or
police officer must accept the offer within five working days after
the date the offer is made. A [If the] person who refuses the offer
and wants to appeal the suspension to the commission or a person who
accepts the offer and wants to appeal an additional condition
imposed to the commission[, the person] must file a written appeal
with the commission within 15 days after the date the person
receives the copy of the written statement of suspension.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 143.053, Local Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 143.053. APPEAL OF DISCIPLINARY SUSPENSION OR
IMPOSITION OF ADDITIONAL CONDITION ON SUSPENSION.
SECTION 3. Section 143.053, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b) and (e) and adding Subsection
(e-1) to read as follows:
(b) If a suspended fire fighter or police officer appeals
the suspension or the imposition of an additional condition on a
suspension under Section 143.052(g) to the commission, the
commission shall hold a hearing and render a decision in writing
within 30 days after the date it receives notice of appeal. The
suspended person and the commission may agree to postpone the
hearing for a definite period.
(e) In its decision in an appeal on a suspension, the
commission shall state whether the suspended fire fighter or police
officer is:
(1) permanently dismissed from the fire or police
department;
(2) temporarily suspended from the department; or
(3) restored to the person's former position or status
in the department's classified service.
(e-1) In its decision in an appeal on the imposition of an
additional condition on a suspension, the commission shall state
whether the additional condition on the suspension may be imposed
or may not be imposed.
SECTION 4. Section 143.057(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) In addition to the other notice requirements prescribed
by this chapter, the written notice for a promotional bypass or the
letter of disciplinary action, as applicable, issued to a fire
fighter or police officer must state that in an appeal of an
indefinite suspension, a suspension, the imposition of an
additional condition on a suspension under Section 143.052(g), a
promotional bypass, or a recommended demotion, the appealing fire
fighter or police officer may elect to appeal to an independent
third party hearing examiner instead of to the commission. The
letter must also state that if the fire fighter or police officer
elects to appeal to a hearing examiner, the person waives all rights
to appeal to a district court except as provided by Subsection (j).
SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a suspension voluntarily accepted on or after the effective date
of this Act. A suspension voluntarily accepted before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. 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, 2013.