Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4966 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R20669 MAW-F
2	2	By: King of Hemphill H.B. No. 4966
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to law enforcement agency personnel records and the
8	8	reporting of separations of license holders to the Texas Commission
9	9	on Law Enforcement.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 1701.162(a), Occupations Code, is
12	12	amended to read as follows:
13	13	(a) The commission is entitled to access records maintained
14	14	under Subchapter J and Sections 1701.303, 1701.306, and 1701.310 by
15	15	an agency hiring a person to be an officer or county jailer,
16	16	including records that relate to age, education, physical
17	17	standards, citizenship, experience, and other matters relating to
18	18	competence and reliability, as evidence of qualification for
19	19	licensing of an officer or county jailer.
20	20	SECTION 2. Section 1701.451(a), Occupations Code, is
21	21	amended to read as follows:
22	22	(a) Before a law enforcement agency may hire a person
23	23	licensed under this chapter, the agency must, on a form and in the
24	24	manner prescribed by the commission:
25	25	(1) obtain the person's written consent for the agency
26	26	to review the information required to be reviewed under this
27	27	section;
28	28	(2) request from the commission and any other
29	29	applicable person information required to be reviewed under this
30	30	section; and
31	31	(3) submit to the commission confirmation that the
32	32	agency, to the best of the agency's ability before hiring the
33	33	person:
34	34	(A) contacted each entity or individual
35	35	necessary to obtain the information required to be reviewed under
36	36	this section; and
37	37	(B) except as provided by Subsection (b),
38	38	obtained and reviewed as related to the person, as applicable:
39	39	(i) personnel files and other employee
40	40	records from each previous law enforcement agency employer,
41	41	including the employment application submitted to the previous
42	42	employer;
43	43	(ii) employment termination reports and any
44	44	statement by the license holder submitted under Section 1701.4525
45	45	maintained by the commission under this subchapter;
46	46	(iii) service records maintained by the
47	47	commission;
48	48	(iv) proof that the person meets the
49	49	minimum qualifications for enrollment in a training program under
50	50	Section 1701.251(a);
51	51	(v) a military veteran's United States
52	52	Department of Defense Form DD-214 or other military discharge
53	53	record;
54	54	(vi) criminal history record information;
55	55	(vii) information on pending warrants as
56	56	available through the Texas Crime Information Center and National
57	57	Crime Information Center;
58	58	(viii) evidence of financial
59	59	responsibility as required by Section 601.051, Transportation
60	60	Code;
61	61	(ix) a driving record from the Department
62	62	of Public Safety;
63	63	(x) proof of United States citizenship; and
64	64	(xi) information on the person's background
65	65	from at least three personal references and at least two
66	66	professional references.
67	67	SECTION 3. Subchapter J, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
68	68	amended by adding Section 1701.4511 to read as follows:
69	69	Sec. 1701.4511. POLICY REGARDING PERSONNEL FILES. (a) The
70	70	commission shall adopt a model policy applicable to the maintenance
71	71	of personnel files by a law enforcement agency. The policy must:
72	72	(1) identify the types of documents that must be
73	73	placed in a license holder's personnel file;
74	74	(2) specify the purposes for which information in the
75	75	file may be disclosed; and
76	76	(3) comply with laws applicable to employment records.
77	77	(b) A law enforcement agency shall adopt the model policy
78	78	described by Subsection (a) or a substantively similar policy.
79	79	SECTION 4. Section 1701.452, Occupations Code, is amended
80	80	by amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (g) and adding
81	81	Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
82	82	(a) The head of a law enforcement agency or the head's
83	83	designee shall submit a report to the commission on a form
84	84	prescribed by the commission regarding a person licensed under this
85	85	chapter [who resigns or retires from employment with the law
86	86	enforcement agency, whose appointment with the law enforcement
87	87	agency is terminated, or] who separates from the law enforcement
88	88	agency for any [other] reason. The report must be submitted by the
89	89	head or the designee not later than the seventh business day after
90	90	the date the license holder:
91	91	(1) [resigns, retires, is terminated, or] separates
92	92	from the agency; and
93	93	(2) exhausts all administrative appeals available to
94	94	the license holder, if applicable.
95	95	(b) The head of a law enforcement agency or the head's
96	96	designee shall indicate [include] in the report required under
97	97	Subsection (a) [a statement on whether the license holder was
98	98	honorably discharged, generally discharged, or dishonorably
99	99	discharged and, as required by the commission, an explanation of]
100	100	the circumstances under which the license holder separated and
101	101	indicate the nature of the separation as "retired," "resigned,"
102	102	"terminated," or "deceased." The indication of the circumstances
103	103	must include whether the separation:
104	104	(1) occurred during a pending investigation into the
105	105	license holder's conduct;
106	106	(2) resulted from a substantiated instance of:
107	107	(A) a violation of law, other than a traffic
108	108	offense;
109	109	(B) a violation of the agency's use of force
110	110	policy; or
111	111	(C) misconduct; or
112	112	(3) related to a violation of any other commission
113	113	rule [person resigned, retired, or was terminated]. [For purposes
114	114	of this subsection:
115	115	[(1) "Honorably discharged" means a license holder
116	116	who, while in good standing and not because of pending or final
117	117	disciplinary actions or a documented performance problem, retired,
118	118	resigned, or separated from employment with or died while employed
119	119	by a law enforcement agency.
120	120	[(2) "Generally discharged" means a license holder
121	121	who:
122	122	[(A) was terminated by, retired or resigned from,
123	123	or died while in the employ of a law enforcement agency and the
124	124	separation was related to a disciplinary investigation of conduct
125	125	that is not included in the definition of dishonorably discharged;
126	126	or
127	127	[(B) was terminated by or retired or resigned
128	128	from a law enforcement agency and the separation was for a
129	129	documented performance problem and was not because of a reduction
130	130	in workforce or an at-will employment decision.
131	131	[(3) "Dishonorably discharged" means a license holder
132	132	who:
133	133	[(A) was terminated by a law enforcement agency
134	134	or retired or resigned in lieu of termination by the agency in
135	135	relation to allegations of criminal misconduct; or
136	136	[(B) was terminated by a law enforcement agency
137	137	or retired or resigned in lieu of termination by the agency for
138	138	insubordination or untruthfulness.]
139	139	(c) The commission by rule may further specify the
140	140	circumstances and nature of a separation that must be included in
141	141	the report as [constitute honorably discharged, dishonorably
142	142	discharged, and generally discharged within the definitions]
143	143	provided by Subsection (b).
144	144	(c-1) The commission must indicate on any report received
145	145	under Subsection (a) whether the license holder submitted a
146	146	statement under Section 1701.4525.
147	147	(d) The head of the law enforcement agency from which a
148	148	license holder [resigns, retires, is terminated, or] separates for
149	149	reasons other than death, or the head's designee, shall provide to
150	150	the license holder a copy of the report. The report must be
151	151	provided to the license holder not later than the seventh business
152	152	day after the date the license holder:
153	153	(1) [resigns, retires, is terminated, or] separates
154	154	from the agency; and
155	155	(2) exhausts all administrative appeals available to
156	156	the license holder, if applicable.
157	157	(g) The head of a law enforcement agency or the head's
158	158	designee must submit a report under this section each time a person
159	159	licensed under this chapter [resigns, retires, is terminated, or]
160	160	separates for any [other] reason from the agency. The report is an
161	161	official government document.
162	162	SECTION 5. Section 1701.4525, Occupations Code, is amended
163	163	to read as follows:
164	164	Sec. 1701.4525. LICENSE HOLDER STATEMENT REGARDING
165	165	[PETITION FOR CORRECTION OF] REPORT[; HEARING]. (a) A person who
166	166	is the subject of an employment termination report maintained by
167	167	the commission under this subchapter may contest information
168	168	contained in the report by submitting to the law enforcement agency
169	169	and to the commission a written statement [petition] on a form
170	170	prescribed by the commission [for a correction of the report] not
171	171	later than the 30th day after the date the person receives a copy of
172	172	the report. The commission shall adopt rules prescribing the
173	173	manner in which a license holder may file an amended statement based
174	174	on new information.
175	175	(b) A statement submitted by a license holder under
176	176	Subsection (a) is confidential and not subject to disclosure under
177	177	Chapter 552, Government Code, unless the license holder expressly
178	178	elects to make the information available to the public [On receipt
179	179	of the petition, the commission shall refer the petition to the
180	180	State Office of Administrative Hearings].
181	181	(c) [(d) A proceeding to contest information in an
182	182	employment termination report is a contested case under Chapter
183	183	2001, Government Code.
184	184	[(e) In a proceeding to contest information in an employment
185	185	termination report for a report based on alleged misconduct, an
186	186	administrative law judge shall determine if the alleged misconduct
187	187	occurred by a preponderance of the evidence regardless of whether
188	188	the person who is the subject of the report was terminated or the
189	189	person resigned, retired, or separated in lieu of termination. If
190	190	the alleged misconduct is not supported by a preponderance of the
191	191	evidence, the administrative law judge shall order the commission
192	192	to change the report. The commission shall send the changed report
193	193	to the law enforcement agency that prepared the original employment
194	194	termination report. The law enforcement agency shall replace the
195	195	original employment termination report with the changed report.
196	196	[(f)] The commission shall adopt rules for the
197	197	administration of this section.
198	198	[(g) The commission is not considered a party in a
199	199	proceeding conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings
200	200	under this section.]
201	201	SECTION 6. Section 1701.454(a), Occupations Code, is
202	202	amended to read as follows:
203	203	(a) Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, all
204	204	[All] information submitted to the commission under this
205	205	subchapter, other than the nature of a license holder's separation
206	206	as described by Section 1701.452(b), is confidential and is not
207	207	subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, unless
208	208	the person resigned or was terminated due to substantiated
209	209	incidents of excessive force or violations of the law other than
210	210	traffic offenses.
211	211	SECTION 7. Section 1701.4521, Occupations Code, is
212	212	repealed.
213	213	SECTION 8. Not later than December 1, 2023, the Texas
214	214	Commission on Law Enforcement shall:
215	215	(1) adopt rules necessary to implement the changes in
216	216	law made by this Act; and
217	217	(2) adopt the model policy required by Section
218	218	1701.4511, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
219	219	SECTION 9. Not later than January 1, 2024, each law
220	220	enforcement agency in this state shall adopt the policy required by
221	221	Section 1701.4511, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
222	222	SECTION 10. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
223	223	to the separation or hiring of a license holder that occurs on or
224	224	after January 1, 2024. A separation or hiring that occurs before
225	225	January 1, 2024, is governed by the law in effect immediately before
226	226	the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
227	227	effect for that purpose.
228	228	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.