Texas 2019 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3689 Enrolled / Bill

Filed 05/21/2019

                    H.B. No. 3689


 AN ACT
 relating to the office of the inspector general of the Texas
 Juvenile Justice Department.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Sections 659.303(a) and (d), Government Code,
 are amended to read as follows:
 (a)  The department may include hazardous duty pay in the
 compensation paid to an individual for services rendered during a
 month if the individual:
 (1)  has:
 (A)  routine direct contact with youth:
 (i) [(A)]  placed in a residential facility
 of the department; or
 (ii) [(B)]  released under the department's
 supervision; and
 (B) [(2)  has] completed at least 12 months of
 lifetime service credit not later than the last day of the preceding
 month; or
 (2)  is an investigator, inspector general, security
 officer, or apprehension specialist employed by the office of the
 inspector general of the department.
 (d)  Except for the inclusion of hazardous duty pay in the
 compensation paid to an individual described by Subsection (a)(2),
 the [The] department may not pay hazardous duty pay:
 (1)  from funds authorized for payment of an
 across-the-board employee salary increase; or
 (2)  to an employee who works at the department's
 central office.
 SECTION 2.  Section 242.102(a), Human Resources Code, is
 amended to read as follows:
 (a)  The office of inspector general is established at the
 department under the direction of the board as a law enforcement
 agency for the purpose of [investigating]:
 (1)  preventing and investigating:
 (A)  crimes committed by department employees,
 including parole officers employed by or under a contract with the
 department; and
 (B) [(2)]  crimes and delinquent conduct
 committed at a facility operated by the department, a residential
 facility operated by another entity under a contract with the
 department, or any facility in which a child committed to the
 custody of the department is housed or receives medical or mental
 health treatment, including:
 (i)  unauthorized or illegal entry into a
 department facility;
 (ii)  the introduction of contraband into a
 department facility;
 (iii)  escape from a secure facility; and
 (iv)  organized criminal activity; and
 (2)  investigating complaints received under Section
 203.010 involving allegations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of
 children in juvenile justice programs or facilities.
 SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
 ______________________________ ______________________________
 President of the Senate Speaker of the House
 I certify that H.B. No. 3689 was passed by the House on May 3,
 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 139, Nays 1, 2 present, not
 voting.
 ______________________________
 Chief Clerk of the House
 I certify that H.B. No. 3689 was passed by the Senate on May
 21, 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 ______________________________
 Secretary of the Senate
 APPROVED:  _____________________
 Date
 _____________________
 Governor