| 1 | 1 | | 87R4973 MAW-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Bonnen H.B. No. 2826 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to access to and review of a person's employment records |
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| 8 | 8 | | held by a law enforcement agency. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 143.089, Local Government Code, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended by amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsections (h) and |
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| 12 | 12 | | (i) to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (g) A fire or police department may maintain a department |
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| 14 | 14 | | [personnel] file on a fire fighter or police officer employed by the |
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| 15 | 15 | | department for the department's use. Except as provided by |
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| 16 | 16 | | Subsection (h), [but] the department may not release any |
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| 17 | 17 | | information contained in the department file to any agency or |
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| 18 | 18 | | person requesting information relating to a fire fighter or police |
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| 19 | 19 | | officer. The department shall refer to the director or the |
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| 20 | 20 | | director's designee a person or agency that requests information |
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| 21 | 21 | | that is maintained in the fire fighter's or police officer's |
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| 22 | 22 | | department [personnel] file. |
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| 23 | 23 | | (h) A police officer is entitled to view the contents of the |
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| 24 | 24 | | officer's department file maintained under Subsection (g) and is |
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| 25 | 25 | | entitled, on request, to a copy of any document in the officer's |
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| 26 | 26 | | department file. |
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| 27 | 27 | | (i) A police department shall include in a police officer's |
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| 28 | 28 | | department file maintained under Subsection (g) any statement that |
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| 29 | 29 | | the officer requests to be included in the file. |
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| 30 | 30 | | SECTION 2. Section 1701.451, Occupations Code, is amended |
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| 31 | 31 | | by amending Subsections (a) and (a-1) and adding Subsections (d) |
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| 32 | 32 | | and (e) to read as follows: |
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| 33 | 33 | | (a) Before a law enforcement agency may hire a person |
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| 34 | 34 | | licensed under this chapter, the agency head or the agency head's |
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| 35 | 35 | | designee must: |
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| 36 | 36 | | (1) make a request to the commission for any |
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| 37 | 37 | | employment termination report regarding the person that is |
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| 38 | 38 | | maintained by the commission under this subchapter; and |
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| 39 | 39 | | (2) submit to the commission on the form prescribed by |
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| 40 | 40 | | the commission confirmation that the agency: |
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| 41 | 41 | | (A) conducted in the manner prescribed by the |
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| 42 | 42 | | commission a criminal background check regarding the person; |
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| 43 | 43 | | (B) obtained the person's written consent on a |
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| 44 | 44 | | form prescribed by the commission for the agency to view the |
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| 45 | 45 | | person's employment records; |
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| 46 | 46 | | (C) obtained from the commission any service or |
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| 47 | 47 | | education records regarding the person maintained by the |
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| 48 | 48 | | commission; and |
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| 49 | 49 | | (D) reviewed the person's employment records |
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| 50 | 50 | | from [contacted] each of the person's previous law enforcement |
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| 51 | 51 | | employers. |
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| 52 | 52 | | (a-1) A law enforcement agency, on receipt of [that obtains] |
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| 53 | 53 | | a consent form described by Subsection (a)(2)(B), shall make the |
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| 54 | 54 | | person's employment records available to a hiring law enforcement |
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| 55 | 55 | | agency [on request]. The commission by rule shall prescribe the |
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| 56 | 56 | | manner by which a law enforcement agency shall make a person's |
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| 57 | 57 | | employment records available to a hiring law enforcement agency. |
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| 58 | 58 | | (d) A law enforcement agency's failure to review a person's |
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| 59 | 59 | | employment records as required by Subsection (a)(2)(D) or to make a |
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| 60 | 60 | | person's employment records available as required by Subsection |
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| 61 | 61 | | (a-1) constitutes grounds for imposing an administrative penalty |
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| 62 | 62 | | under Section 1701.507. |
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| 63 | 63 | | (e) To the extent of any conflict between this section and |
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| 64 | 64 | | Section 143.089, Local Government Code, this section controls. |
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| 65 | 65 | | SECTION 3. Section 143.089, Local Government Code, as |
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| 66 | 66 | | amended by this Act, applies to a request to view or obtain a copy of |
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| 67 | 67 | | information made on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 68 | 68 | | Section 143.089(h), Local Government Code, as added by this Act, |
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| 69 | 69 | | applies to the entire contents of a department file regardless of |
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| 70 | 70 | | the date on which a document or other information was placed in the |
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| 71 | 71 | | department file. |
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| 72 | 72 | | SECTION 4. (a) Not later than December 1, 2021, the Texas |
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| 73 | 73 | | Commission on Law Enforcement shall adopt rules and update forms as |
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| 74 | 74 | | necessary to comply with Section 1701.451, Occupations Code, as |
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| 75 | 75 | | amended by this Act. |
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| 76 | 76 | | (b) Section 1701.451, Occupations Code, as amended by this |
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| 77 | 77 | | Act, applies only to the hiring of a person by a law enforcement |
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| 78 | 78 | | agency that occurs on or after December 1, 2021. The hiring of a |
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| 79 | 79 | | person by a law enforcement agency that occurs before that date is |
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| 80 | 80 | | governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date |
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| 81 | 81 | | of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that |
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| 82 | 82 | | purpose. |
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| 83 | 83 | | SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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