Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1268 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R2949 MAW-F
2	2	By: West S.B. No. 1268
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to an employment termination report and other records
8	8	submitted to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement by a law
9	9	enforcement agency.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 1701.451(c), Occupations Code, is
12	12	amended to read as follows:
13	13	(c) If the commission receives from a law enforcement agency
14	14	a request that complies with Subsections (a)(1) and (b), the
15	15	commission [employee having the responsibility to maintain any
16	16	employment termination report regarding the person who is the
17	17	subject of the request] shall release the report to the agency.
18	18	SECTION 2. Sections 1701.452(a), (b), (d), and (g),
19	19	Occupations Code, are amended to read as follows:
20	20	(a) The head of a law enforcement agency or the head's
21	21	designee shall submit a report to the commission on a form
22	22	prescribed by the commission regarding a person licensed under this
23	23	chapter [who resigns or retires from employment with the law
24	24	enforcement agency, whose appointment with the law enforcement
25	25	agency is terminated, or] who separates from the law enforcement
26	26	agency for any [other] reason. The report must be submitted by the
27	27	head or the designee not later than the seventh business day after
28	28	the date the license holder:
29	29	(1) [resigns, retires, is terminated, or] separates
30	30	from the agency; and
31	31	(2) exhausts all administrative appeals available to
32	32	the license holder, if applicable.
33	33	(b) The head of a law enforcement agency or the head's
34	34	designee shall indicate [include] in the report required under
35	35	Subsection (a) [a statement on] whether the license holder was
36	36	suspected of misconduct, regardless of whether the license holder
37	37	was terminated for misconduct [honorably discharged, generally
38	38	discharged, or dishonorably discharged and, as required by the
39	39	commission, an explanation of the circumstances under which the
40	40	person resigned, retired, or was terminated]. For purposes of this
41	41	subsection, "misconduct" includes a license holder engaging in
42	42	criminal conduct, regardless of whether the license holder was
43	43	arrested for, charged with, or convicted of an offense [:
44	44	[(1) "Honorably discharged" means a license holder
45	45	who, while in good standing and not because of pending or final
46	46	disciplinary actions or a documented performance problem, retired,
47	47	resigned, or separated from employment with or died while employed
48	48	by a law enforcement agency.
49	49	[(2) "Generally discharged" means a license holder
50	50	who:
51	51	[(A) was terminated by, retired or resigned from,
52	52	or died while in the employ of a law enforcement agency and the
53	53	separation was related to a disciplinary investigation of conduct
54	54	that is not included in the definition of dishonorably discharged;
55	55	or
56	56	[(B) was terminated by or retired or resigned
57	57	from a law enforcement agency and the separation was for a
58	58	documented performance problem and was not because of a reduction
59	59	in workforce or an at-will employment decision.
60	60	[(3) "Dishonorably discharged" means a license holder
61	61	who:
62	62	[(A) was terminated by a law enforcement agency
63	63	or retired or resigned in lieu of termination by the agency in
64	64	relation to allegations of criminal misconduct; or
65	65	[(B) was terminated by a law enforcement agency
66	66	or retired or resigned in lieu of termination by the agency for
67	67	insubordination or untruthfulness].
68	68	(d) The head of the law enforcement agency from which a
69	69	license holder [resigns, retires, is terminated, or] separates for
70	70	reasons other than death, or the head's designee, shall provide to
71	71	the license holder a copy of the report. The report must be provided
72	72	to the license holder not later than the seventh business day after
73	73	the date the license holder:
74	74	(1) [resigns, retires, is terminated, or] separates
75	75	from the agency; and
76	76	(2) exhausts all administrative appeals available to
77	77	the license holder, if applicable.
78	78	(g) The head of a law enforcement agency or the head's
79	79	designee must submit a report under this section each time a person
80	80	licensed under this chapter [resigns, retires, is terminated, or]
81	81	separates for any [other] reason from the agency. The report is an
82	82	official government document.
83	83	SECTION 3. Sections 1701.4525(a), (d), and (e), Occupations
84	84	Code, are amended to read as follows:
85	85	(a) A person who is the subject of an employment termination
86	86	report maintained by the commission under this subchapter may
87	87	contest an indication under Section 1701.452(b) that the person was
88	88	suspected of misconduct [information] contained in the report by
89	89	submitting to the law enforcement agency and to the commission a
90	90	written petition on a form prescribed by the commission for a
91	91	correction of the report not later than the 30th day after the date
92	92	the person receives a copy of the report. On receipt of the
93	93	petition, the commission shall refer the petition to the State
94	94	Office of Administrative Hearings.
95	95	(d) A proceeding to contest an indication of misconduct
96	96	[information] in an employment termination report is a contested
97	97	case under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
98	98	(e) In a proceeding to contest an indication of misconduct
99	99	[information] in an employment termination report [for a report
100	100	based on alleged misconduct], an administrative law judge shall
101	101	determine if the alleged misconduct occurred by a preponderance of
102	102	the evidence regardless of whether the person who is the subject of
103	103	the report was terminated for the misconduct [or the person
104	104	resigned, retired, or separated in lieu of termination]. If the
105	105	alleged misconduct is not supported by a preponderance of the
106	106	evidence, the administrative law judge shall order the commission
107	107	to change the report. The commission shall send the changed report
108	108	to the law enforcement agency that prepared the original employment
109	109	termination report. The law enforcement agency shall replace the
110	110	original employment termination report with the changed report.
111	111	SECTION 4. The following provisions of the Occupations Code
112	112	are repealed:
113	113	(1) Section 1701.452(c);
114	114	(2) Section 1701.4521; and
115	115	(3) Section 1701.454.
116	116	SECTION 5. Not later than December 1, 2021, the Texas
117	117	Commission on Law Enforcement shall update the form for an
118	118	employment termination report as necessary to comply with Section
119	119	1701.452, Occupations Code, as amended by this Act.
120	120	SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
121	121	a report required to be submitted under Section 1701.452,
122	122	Occupations Code, as amended by this Act, regarding a separation of
123	123	a license holder that occurs on or after December 1, 2021. A
124	124	separation that occurs before December 1, 2021, is governed by the
125	125	law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
126	126	the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
127	127	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.