Bill Text: TX HB4966 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed


Bill Title: Relating to law enforcement agency personnel records and the reporting of separations of license holders to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-09 - Referred to Criminal Justice [HB4966 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB4966-Engrossed.html
  88R20669 MAW-F
 
  By: King of Hemphill H.B. No. 4966
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to law enforcement agency personnel records and the
  reporting of separations of license holders to the Texas Commission
  on Law Enforcement.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 1701.162(a), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The commission is entitled to access records maintained
  under Subchapter J and Sections 1701.303, 1701.306, and 1701.310 by
  an agency hiring a person to be an officer or county jailer,
  including records that relate to age, education, physical
  standards, citizenship, experience, and other matters relating to
  competence and reliability, as evidence of qualification for
  licensing of an officer or county jailer.
         SECTION 2.  Section 1701.451(a), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Before a law enforcement agency may hire a person
  licensed under this chapter, the agency must, on a form and in the
  manner prescribed by the commission:
               (1)  obtain the person's written consent for the agency
  to review the information required to be reviewed under this
  section;
               (2)  request from the commission and any other
  applicable person information required to be reviewed under this
  section; and
               (3)  submit to the commission confirmation that the
  agency, to the best of the agency's ability before hiring the
  person:
                     (A)  contacted each entity or individual
  necessary to obtain the information required to be reviewed under
  this section; and
                     (B)  except as provided by Subsection (b),
  obtained and reviewed as related to the person, as applicable:
                           (i)  personnel files and other employee
  records from each previous law enforcement agency employer,
  including the employment application submitted to the previous
  employer;
                           (ii)  employment termination reports and any
  statement by the license holder submitted under Section 1701.4525
  maintained by the commission under this subchapter;
                           (iii)  service records maintained by the
  commission;
                           (iv)  proof that the person meets the
  minimum qualifications for enrollment in a training program under
  Section 1701.251(a);
                           (v)  a military veteran's United States
  Department of Defense Form DD-214 or other military discharge
  record;
                           (vi)  criminal history record information;
                           (vii)  information on pending warrants as
  available through the Texas Crime Information Center and National
  Crime Information Center;
                           (viii)  evidence of financial
  responsibility as required by Section 601.051, Transportation
  Code;
                           (ix)  a driving record from the Department
  of Public Safety;
                           (x)  proof of United States citizenship; and
                           (xi)  information on the person's background
  from at least three personal references and at least two
  professional references.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter J, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
  amended by adding Section 1701.4511 to read as follows:
         Sec. 1701.4511.  POLICY REGARDING PERSONNEL FILES.  (a)  The
  commission shall adopt a model policy applicable to the maintenance
  of personnel files by a law enforcement agency. The policy must:
               (1)  identify the types of documents that must be
  placed in a license holder's personnel file;
               (2)  specify the purposes for which information in the
  file may be disclosed; and
               (3)  comply with laws applicable to employment records.
         (b)  A law enforcement agency shall adopt the model policy
  described by Subsection (a) or a substantively similar policy.
         SECTION 4.  Section 1701.452, Occupations Code, is amended
  by amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (g) and adding
  Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
         (a)  The head of a law enforcement agency or the head's
  designee shall submit a report to the commission on a form
  prescribed by the commission regarding a person licensed under this
  chapter [who resigns or retires from employment with the law
  enforcement agency, whose appointment with the law enforcement
  agency is terminated, or] who separates from the law enforcement
  agency for any [other] reason.  The report must be submitted by the
  head or the designee not later than the seventh business day after
  the date the license holder:
               (1)  [resigns, retires, is terminated, or] separates
  from the agency; and
               (2)  exhausts all administrative appeals available to
  the license holder, if applicable.
         (b)  The head of a law enforcement agency or the head's
  designee shall indicate [include] in the report required under
  Subsection (a) [a statement on whether the license holder was
  honorably discharged, generally discharged, or dishonorably
  discharged and, as required by the commission, an explanation of]
  the circumstances under which the license holder separated and
  indicate the nature of the separation as "retired," "resigned,"
  "terminated," or "deceased." The indication of the circumstances
  must include whether the separation:
               (1)  occurred during a pending investigation into the
  license holder's conduct; 
               (2)  resulted from a substantiated instance of:
                     (A)  a violation of law, other than a traffic
  offense;
                     (B)  a violation of the agency's use of force
  policy; or
                     (C)  misconduct; or
               (3)  related to a violation of any other commission
  rule [person resigned, retired, or was terminated]. [For purposes
  of this subsection:
               [(1)  "Honorably discharged" means a license holder
  who, while in good standing and not because of pending or final
  disciplinary actions or a documented performance problem, retired,
  resigned, or separated from employment with or died while employed
  by a law enforcement agency.
               [(2)  "Generally discharged" means a license holder
  who:
                     [(A)  was terminated by, retired or resigned from,
  or died while in the employ of a law enforcement agency and the
  separation was related to a disciplinary investigation of conduct
  that is not included in the definition of dishonorably discharged;
  or
                     [(B)  was terminated by or retired or resigned
  from a law enforcement agency and the separation was for a
  documented performance problem and was not because of a reduction
  in workforce or an at-will employment decision.
               [(3)  "Dishonorably discharged" means a license holder
  who:
                     [(A)  was terminated by a law enforcement agency
  or retired or resigned in lieu of termination by the agency in
  relation to allegations of criminal misconduct; or
                     [(B)  was terminated by a law enforcement agency
  or retired or resigned in lieu of termination by the agency for
  insubordination or untruthfulness.]
         (c)  The commission by rule may further specify the
  circumstances and nature of a separation that must be included in
  the report as [constitute honorably discharged, dishonorably
  discharged, and generally discharged within the definitions]
  provided by Subsection (b).
         (c-1)  The commission must indicate on any report received
  under Subsection (a) whether the license holder submitted a
  statement under Section 1701.4525.
         (d)  The head of the law enforcement agency from which a
  license holder [resigns, retires, is terminated, or] separates for
  reasons other than death, or the head's designee, shall provide to
  the license holder a copy of the report.  The report must be
  provided to the license holder not later than the seventh business
  day after the date the license holder:
               (1)  [resigns, retires, is terminated, or] separates
  from the agency; and
               (2)  exhausts all administrative appeals available to
  the license holder, if applicable.
         (g)  The head of a law enforcement agency or the head's
  designee must submit a report under this section each time a person
  licensed under this chapter [resigns, retires, is terminated, or]
  separates for any [other] reason from the agency.  The report is an
  official government document.
         SECTION 5.  Section 1701.4525, Occupations Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         Sec. 1701.4525.  LICENSE HOLDER STATEMENT REGARDING
  [PETITION FOR CORRECTION OF] REPORT[; HEARING].  (a)  A person who
  is the subject of an employment termination report maintained by
  the commission under this subchapter may contest information
  contained in the report by submitting to the law enforcement agency
  and to the commission a written statement [petition] on a form
  prescribed by the commission [for a correction of the report] not
  later than the 30th day after the date the person receives a copy of
  the report. The commission shall adopt rules prescribing the
  manner in which a license holder may file an amended statement based
  on new information.
         (b)  A statement submitted by a license holder under
  Subsection (a) is confidential and not subject to disclosure under
  Chapter 552, Government Code, unless the license holder expressly
  elects to make the information available to the public [On receipt
  of the petition, the commission shall refer the petition to the
  State Office of Administrative Hearings].
         (c)  [(d)  A proceeding to contest information in an
  employment termination report is a contested case under Chapter
  2001, Government Code.
         [(e)  In a proceeding to contest information in an employment
  termination report for a report based on alleged misconduct, an
  administrative law judge shall determine if the alleged misconduct
  occurred by a preponderance of the evidence regardless of whether
  the person who is the subject of the report was terminated or the
  person resigned, retired, or separated in lieu of termination.  If
  the alleged misconduct is not supported by a preponderance of the
  evidence, the administrative law judge shall order the commission
  to change the report.  The commission shall send the changed report
  to the law enforcement agency that prepared the original employment
  termination report.  The law enforcement agency shall replace the
  original employment termination report with the changed report.
         [(f)]  The commission shall adopt rules for the
  administration of this section.
         [(g)  The commission is not considered a party in a
  proceeding conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings
  under this section.]
         SECTION 6.  Section 1701.454(a), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, all
  [All] information submitted to the commission under this
  subchapter, other than the nature of a license holder's separation
  as described by Section 1701.452(b), is confidential and is not
  subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, unless
  the person resigned or was terminated due to substantiated
  incidents of excessive force or violations of the law other than
  traffic offenses.
         SECTION 7.  Section 1701.4521, Occupations Code, is
  repealed.
         SECTION 8.  Not later than December 1, 2023, the Texas
  Commission on Law Enforcement shall:
               (1)  adopt rules necessary to implement the changes in
  law made by this Act; and
               (2)  adopt the model policy required by Section
  1701.4511, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 9.  Not later than January 1, 2024, each law
  enforcement agency in this state shall adopt the policy required by
  Section 1701.4511, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 10.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only
  to the separation or hiring of a license holder that occurs on or
  after January 1, 2024.  A separation or hiring that occurs before
  January 1, 2024, is governed by the law in effect immediately before
  the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 11.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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