83R10238 YDB-F
By: Gonzales H.B. No. 3805
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the discharge of an officer or employee of the
Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 411.007, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (e) and (f) and adding Subsections (e-1),
(e-2), and (g) to read as follows:
(e) An officer or employee of the department may not be
discharged without just cause. The director shall determine
whether an officer or employee is to be discharged. A commissioned
[An] officer [or employee] ordered discharged may appeal to the
commission, and during the appeal the officer [or employee] shall
be suspended without pay.
(e-1) Except as provided by Subsection (g) [(f)], the
department may not discharge, suspend, or demote a commissioned
officer except for the violation of a specific commission rule. If
the department discharges, suspends, or demotes the [an] officer,
the department shall deliver to the officer a written statement
giving the reasons for the action taken. The written statement must
point out each commission rule alleged to have been violated by the
officer and must describe the alleged acts of the officer that the
department contends are in violation of the commission rules.
(e-2) [(f)] The commission shall establish necessary
policies and procedures for the appointment, promotion, reduction,
suspension, and discharge of all employees.
(f) A discharged commissioned officer [or employee] is
entitled, on application to the commission, to a public hearing
before the commission, who shall affirm or set aside the discharge.
The commission shall affirm or set aside a discharge on the basis of
the evidence presented. If the commission affirms the discharge,
the discharged officer may seek judicial review, not later than the
90th day after the date the commission affirms the discharge, in a
district court under the substantial evidence standard of review,
and the officer remains suspended without pay while the case is
under judicial review.
(g) A noncommissioned employee inducted into the service of
the department is on probation for the first one year of service,
and an officer is on probation from the date the officer [person] is
inducted into the service of the department until the anniversary
of the date the officer [person] is commissioned. At any time
during the probationary period, an officer or employee [a person]
may be discharged [without the public hearing provided for by this
subsection] if the director, with the advice and consent of the
commission, finds the officer or employee [person] to be unsuitable
for the work.
SECTION 2. Section 411.007, Government Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to an officer or employee of the Department
of Public Safety of the State of Texas who is discharged on or after
the effective date of this Act. An officer or employee discharged
before that date is governed by the law in effect immediately before
the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.