H.B. No. 840
AN ACT
relating to the selection of public members to serve on a county's
salary grievance committee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 152.015, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding
Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to read as follows:
(a) The public members of the salary grievance committee
shall be selected as provided by Subsection (b) or (b-1) at a
meeting of the commissioners court at any time during the year, but
not later than the 15th day after the date a request for a hearing is
received under Section 152.016(a). If a request for a public
hearing is not received, the commissioners court is not required to
select public members.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), before [Before]
the meeting required by Subsection (a), the county clerk shall
place on a separate slip the name of each person who served on a
grand jury in the county during the preceding calendar year. At the
meeting the slips shall be folded, placed in an appropriate
container, and mixed. The county judge shall draw at random a number
of slips equal to the number of public members needed for the
committee and shall announce the names on the slips. At the meeting
the county judge may repeat this process and make a list of
alternates.
(b-1) As an alternative to the process prescribed by
Subsection (b), the commissioners court may direct the county clerk
to use a computer to generate a randomized list of the names of all
persons who served on a grand jury in the county during the
preceding calendar year. At the meeting required by Subsection (a),
the commissioners court shall:
(1) adopt the randomized list;
(2) enter the list into the minutes of the meeting; and
(3) select, in the order of the list, the necessary
number of public members and alternates.
(b-2) A person whose name is selected under this section
[drawn] becomes a member of the committee or an alternate on
submitting written acceptance of the selection to the clerk. If a
person refuses or is unable to serve on the committee, a replacement
shall be appointed from the list of alternates. If the list of
alternates is exhausted or does not exist, a replacement shall be
selected from the remaining names not already selected, in the same
manner as the replaced member, at the next regular or called
commissioners court meeting [by random selection of a slip from the
remaining slips]. This process shall be repeated until the required
number of public members have accepted the selection [is selected].
(d) A vacancy in a public member position shall be filled
for the unexpired part of the term by appointment from the list of
alternates. If the list of alternates is exhausted or does not
exist, a replacement shall be selected [filled by random selection
of a slip] from the remaining names not already selected, in the
same manner as the vacating member, [slips] at a meeting of the
commissioners court.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 840 was passed by the House on April
9, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 1, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 840 was passed by the Senate on May
19, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor