83R6779 EES-F
By: Bohac H.B. No. 1725
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the procedures to modify employment termination reports
for law enforcement officers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 1701.4525, Occupations
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.4525. PETITION FOR MODIFICATION [CORRECTION] OF
REPORT; HEARING[; ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY].
SECTION 2. Sections 1701.4525(a), (d), and (e), Occupations
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who is the subject of an employment termination
report maintained by the commission under this subchapter may
contest the category of discharge stated [information contained] in
the report by submitting to the law enforcement agency and to the
commission a written petition on a form prescribed by the
commission for a modification [correction] of the report not later
than the 30th day after the date the person receives a copy of the
report. On receipt of the petition, the commission shall refer the
petition to the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
(d) A proceeding to contest the category of discharge stated
[information] in an employment termination report is a contested
case under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
(e) In a proceeding to contest the category of discharge
stated [information] in an employment termination report for a
report based on alleged misconduct, an administrative law judge
shall determine if the alleged misconduct occurred by a
preponderance of the evidence regardless of whether the person who
is the subject of the report was terminated or the person resigned,
retired, or separated in lieu of termination. If the alleged
misconduct is not supported by a preponderance of the evidence, the
administrative law judge shall issue a final order directing the
commission, through the executive director, to prepare and sign a
modified report in accordance with the final order. The commission
shall replace the contested report with the modified report in the
records maintained by the commission under this subchapter [order
the report to be changed].
SECTION 3. Section 1701.4525(e-1), Occupations Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
1701.4525, Occupations Code, apply only to a petition for the
modification of an employment termination report submitted on or
after the effective date of this Act. A petition submitted before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the petition was submitted, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. The repeal by this Act of Section
1701.4525(e-1), Occupations Code, does not affect the validity of a
proceeding initiated or an administrative penalty imposed under
that section before the effective date of this Act. A proceeding
initiated or an administrative penalty imposed under that section
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.