85R7339 LED-D
By: Alonzo H.B. No. 2218
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility for custodial officer service in the
Employees Retirement System of Texas of juvenile justice officers
employed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 811.001(8), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(8) "Custodial officer" means, subject to Section
811.0011, a member of the retirement system who is employed by the
Board of Pardons and Paroles or the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice as a parole officer or caseworker or who is employed by the
correctional institutions division of the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice and certified by the department as having a normal
job assignment that requires frequent or infrequent regularly
planned contact with, and in close proximity to, inmates or
defendants of the correctional institutions division without the
protection of bars, doors, security screens, or similar devices and
includes assignments normally involving supervision or the
potential for supervision of inmates in inmate housing areas,
educational or recreational facilities, industrial shops,
kitchens, laundries, medical areas, agricultural shops or fields,
or in other areas on or away from property of the department. The
term includes a member who transfers from the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice to the managed health care unit of The University
of Texas Medical Branch or the Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center pursuant to Section 9.01, Chapter 238, Acts of the
73rd Legislature, 1993, elects at the time of transfer to retain
membership in the retirement system, and is certified by the
managed health care unit or the health sciences center as having a
normal job assignment described by this subdivision.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 811, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 811.0011 to read as follows:
Sec. 811.0011. OPTIONAL ALTERNATIVE DEFINITION OF
CUSTODIAL OFFICER. (a) For purposes of this section, "juvenile
justice officer" means a member of the retirement system who is
employed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and certified by
that department as holding a position as a juvenile correctional
officer, caseworker, or other position the primary duties of which
include the custodial supervision of or other close, regularly
planned contact with youth in the custody of that department.
(b) The board of trustees by rule may adopt an alternative
definition of "custodial officer" that includes juvenile justice
officers for purposes of allowing juvenile justice officers to
participate in the law enforcement and custodial officer
supplemental retirement fund if the board determines, after
conducting an actuarial valuation, that:
(1) the amortization period for the unfunded actuarial
liabilities of the retirement system and the law enforcement and
custodial officer supplemental retirement fund does not exceed 30
years by one or more years; and
(2) approving juvenile justice officers for
participation in the law enforcement and custodial officer
supplemental retirement fund would not reduce or negatively impact
current benefits paid to members of the retirement system and law
enforcement and custodial officer supplemental retirement fund.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 813.506, if the board of
trustees adopts a rule under Subsection (b), the board, after
consulting with the Texas Juvenile Justice Board, by rule shall
adopt standards for determining eligibility of a juvenile justice
officer for service credit as a custodial officer, based on the need
to encourage early retirement of persons whose duties are hazardous
and require them to have routine contact with youth in the custody
of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department on a regular basis. The
board shall determine a juvenile justice officer's eligibility to
receive credit as a custodial officer. A determination by the board
may not be appealed by an employee.
(d) The board shall provide notice to the Texas Juvenile
Justice Department of the adoption of a rule under Subsection (b),
and the department, after receiving notice, shall:
(1) certify to the retirement system, in the manner
prescribed by the retirement system, the name of each person
employed by the department in the position of juvenile justice
officer and any other information the system determines is
necessary to credit service and finance benefits under this
subtitle; and
(2) beginning with the first pay period that occurs
after the board provides notice under this subsection, begin making
deductions and collecting the contributions for the law enforcement
and custodial officer supplemental retirement fund as provided by
Section 815.402(h).
(e) If the board adopts a rule under Subsection (b), the
board shall ensure that service credit established by a juvenile
justice officer before the date of the rule's adoption is
considered service credit established as a custodial officer for
purposes of determining the officer's eligibility for benefits
under the law enforcement and custodial officer supplemental
retirement fund.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.