Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2170 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Muñoz H.B. No. 2170
2	2
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to sheriff's department civil service systems in certain
9	9	counties.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 158, Local Government
12	12	Code, is amended by adding Section 158.0375 to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 158.0375. HEARING EXAMINERS. (a) The written notice
14	14	for a promotional bypass, demotion, or notice of disciplinary
15	15	action, as applicable, issued to an employee must state that in an
16	16	appeal of a termination, a suspension, a promotional bypass, or a
17	17	recommended demotion, the appealing employee may elect to appeal to
18	18	an independent third-party hearing examiner instead of to the
19	19	commission. The notice must also state that if the employee elects
20	20	to appeal to a hearing examiner, the employee waives all rights to
21	21	appeal to a district court except as provided by Subsection (j).
22	22	(b) To appeal to a hearing examiner under Subsection (a),
23	23	the appealing employee must submit to the commission a written
24	24	request as part of an original notice of appeal stating the
25	25	employee's election to appeal to a hearing examiner.
26	26	(c) The hearing examiner's decision is final and binding on
27	27	all parties. If the employee elects to appeal to a hearing
28	28	examiner, the employee waives all rights to appeal to a district
29	29	court except as provided by Subsection (j).
30	30	(d) In an appeal to a hearing examiner, the parties shall
31	31	first attempt to agree on the selection of an impartial hearing
32	32	examiner. If the parties do not agree on the selection of a hearing
33	33	examiner on or within 10 days after the date the appeal is filed,
34	34	the commission shall immediately request a list of seven qualified
35	35	neutral arbitrators from the American Arbitration Association or
36	36	the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, or their successors
37	37	in function. The parties may agree on one of the seven neutral
38	38	arbitrators on the list. If the parties do not agree within five
39	39	working days after the date they received the list, each party or
40	40	the party's designee shall alternate striking a name from the list
41	41	and the name remaining is the hearing examiner. The parties or
42	42	their designees shall agree on a date for the hearing.
43	43	(e) The hearing must begin as soon as the hearing examiner
44	44	can be scheduled. If the hearing examiner cannot begin the hearing
45	45	within 45 calendar days after the date of selection of the hearing
46	46	examiner, the employee may, within two days after learning of that
47	47	fact, require the selection of a new hearing examiner using the
48	48	procedure prescribed by Subsection (d).
49	49	(f) In each hearing conducted under this section, the
50	50	hearing examiner has the same duties and powers as the commission,
51	51	including the power to issue subpoenas.
52	52	(g) In a hearing conducted under this section, the parties
53	53	may agree to an expedited hearing procedure. Unless otherwise
54	54	agreed by the parties, in an expedited procedure the hearing
55	55	examiner shall render a decision on the appeal within 10 days after
56	56	the date the hearing ended.
57	57	(h) In an appeal that does not involve an expedited hearing
58	58	procedure, the hearing examiner shall make a reasonable effort to
59	59	render a decision on the appeal within 30 days after the date the
60	60	hearing ends or the briefs are filed. The hearing examiner's
61	61	inability to meet the time requirements imposed by this section
62	62	does not affect the hearing examiner's jurisdiction, the validity
63	63	of the adverse employment action, or the hearing examiner's final
64	64	decision. The hearing examiner may uphold, reduce, or overturn the
65	65	adverse employment action.
66	66	(i) The hearing examiner's fees and expenses are shared
67	67	equally by the appealing employee and by the department. The costs
68	68	of a witness are paid by the party who calls the witness.
69	69	(j) A district court may hear an appeal of a hearing
70	70	examiner's award only on the grounds that the hearing examiner was
71	71	without jurisdiction or exceeded the hearing examiner's
72	72	jurisdiction or that the order was procured by fraud, collusion, or
73	73	other unlawful means or the decision was arbitrary or capricious.
74	74	An appeal under this subsection is under the substantial evidence
75	75	rule, and the judgment of the district court is appealable as in
76	76	other civil cases. An appeal must:
77	77	(1) be brought in the district court having
78	78	jurisdiction in the county in which the department is located;
79	79	(2) be filed with the district court with proper
80	80	jurisdiction not later than the 45th day after the date the hearing
81	81	examiner issued a final decision; and
82	82	(3) clearly state the basis for the appeal.
83	83	(k) The hearing examiner may not require evidence of lost
84	84	compensation to award the employee compensation. If the adverse
85	85	employment action is overturned or reduced, the employee is
86	86	entitled to:
87	87	(1) full compensation for the actual time lost as a
88	88	result of the adverse employment action at the rate of pay provided
89	89	for the position or class of service the employee held before the
90	90	adverse employment action; and
91	91	(2) restoration of or credit for any benefits lost as a
92	92	result of the adverse employment action, including sick leave,
93	93	vacation leave, and service credit in a retirement system.
94	94	(l) If a law requires a retirement system to make
95	95	appropriate adjustments to a person's service credit or benefits
96	96	with that system based on a judgment or order issued by the
97	97	commission or a settlement agreement executed in connection with a
98	98	complaint or grievance filed with the commission, such as Section
99	99	842.113, Government Code, that law applies to the final decision of
100	100	a hearing examiner issued under this section or a settlement
101	101	agreement executed in connection with an appeal filed with the
102	102	hearing examiner in the same manner as that law applies to a
103	103	judgment, order, or settlement agreement described by this
104	104	subsection with respect to the commission.
105	105	(m) If an employee is entitled to restored benefits under
106	106	Subsection (k), standard payroll deductions for retirement and
107	107	other benefits must be made from the compensation paid and the
108	108	county shall make any standard corresponding contributions to the
109	109	retirement system or other applicable benefit systems.
110	110	(n) If the adverse employment action was a demotion and is
111	111	overturned, the employee is entitled to the difference in
112	112	compensation between the position the employee was demoted from and
113	113	the position the employee held before the hearing examiner made a
114	114	decision.
115	115	(o) If an employee is owed a monetary award for back pay
116	116	after the final decision of the hearing examiner is rendered, the
117	117	county shall, before the end of the second full pay period after the
118	118	date the employee is reinstated, repay to the employee all wages
119	119	lost as a result of the adverse employment action.
120	120	(p) If the county does not fully repay all lost wages to the
121	121	employee as provided by Subsection (o), the county shall pay the
122	122	employee an amount equal to the lost wages plus accrued interest.
123	123	Interest under this subsection accrues beginning on the date of the
124	124	employee's reinstatement at a rate equal to three percent plus the
125	125	rate for court judgments under Chapter 304, Finance Code, that is in
126	126	effect on the date of the employee's reinstatement.
127	127	SECTION 2. Section 158.0375, Local Government Code, as
128	128	added by this Act, applies only to an adverse employment action
129	129	taken on or after the effective date of this Act.
130	130	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
131	131	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
132	132	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
133	133	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
134	134	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.