Texas 2023 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4873 Introduced / Bill

Filed 03/10/2023

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                    88R9627 JCG-D
 By: Holland H.B. No. 4873


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to the licensing and regulation of peace officers.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
 amended by adding Sections 1701.165 and 1701.166 to read as
 follows:
 Sec. 1701.165.  STANDARDS OF CONDUCT.  (a)  The commission by
 rule shall prescribe standards of conduct for officers.
 (b)  The standards of conduct must establish minimum
 standards with respect to the following:
 (1)  pursuit of a suspect;
 (2)  arrest and control tactics;
 (3)  executing high-risk warrants; and
 (4)  conducting traffic stops, including a uniform
 standard for conducting a traffic stop for an offense punishable by
 fine only.
 (c)  The commission shall biennially review and update the
 standards of conduct as necessary.
 Sec. 1701.166.  SUBMISSION OF REVOKED LICENSE TO NATIONAL
 DATABASE. (a)  In this section, "national misconduct database"
 means the National Decertification Index maintained by the
 International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement
 Standards and Training, or a similar database selected by the
 commission that serves as a registry for the revocation of officer
 licenses in several jurisdictions based on misconduct committed by
 the officer.
 (b)  The commission shall submit to the national misconduct
 database information necessary to create a record in the database
 for each officer license the commission revokes under Section
 1701.501(a-1) or 1701.4521.
 SECTION 2.  Subchapter G, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
 amended by adding Section 1701.3135 to read as follows:
 Sec. 1701.3135.  DISQUALIFICATION: REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION
 IN ANOTHER STATE.  A person is disqualified to be an officer, and
 the commission may not issue an officer license to the person, if
 the person has been issued a license or other authorization to act
 as an officer in another state and the license or authorization was
 revoked or suspended.
 SECTION 3.  Section 1701.501, Occupations Code, is amended
 by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
 (a-1)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), the commission
 may revoke or suspend a license, place on probation a person whose
 license has been suspended, or reprimand a license holder for
 violating a standard of conduct prescribed under Section 1701.165.
 SECTION 4.  Not later than January 1, 2024, the Texas
 Commission on Law Enforcement shall:
 (1)  prescribe the standards of conduct required by
 Section 1701.165, Occupations Code, as added by this Act; and
 (2)  adopt the rules necessary to implement Chapter
 1701, Occupations Code, as amended by this Act.
 SECTION 5.  Section 1701.3135, Occupations Code, as added by
 this Act, applies only to an application for an officer license
 submitted under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, on or after the
 effective date of this Act.  An application submitted before the
 effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
 date the application was submitted, and the former law is continued
 in effect for that purpose.
 SECTION 6.  The standards of conduct required by Section
 1701.165, Occupations Code, as added by this Act, apply only to
 conduct that occurs on or after January 1, 2024.  Conduct that
 occurs before January 1, 2024, is governed by the law in effect on
 the date the conduct occurred, and the former law is continued in
 effect for that purpose.
 SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.