Bill Text: TX HB621 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the regulation of law enforcement officers by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-04-21 - Considered in Calendars [HB621 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB621-Introduced.html

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82R4040 SLB-F
By: Fletcher H.B. No. 621

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of law enforcement officers by the
Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1701.055(c), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) Five members[, excluding ex officio members,]
constitute a quorum.
SECTION 2. Sections 1701.306(a) and (b), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission may not issue a license to a person [as an
officer or county jailer] unless the person is examined by:
(1) a licensed psychologist or by a psychiatrist who
declares in writing that the person is in satisfactory
psychological and emotional health to serve as the type of officer
for which a license is sought; and
(2) a licensed physician who declares in writing that
the person does not show any trace of drug dependency or illegal
drug use after a [physical examination,] blood test[,] or other
medical test.
(b) An agency hiring a person for whom a license [as an
officer or county jailer] is sought shall select the examining
physician and the examining psychologist or psychiatrist. The
agency shall prepare a report of each declaration required by
Subsection (a) and shall maintain a copy of the report on file in a
format readily accessible to the commission. A declaration is not
public information.
SECTION 3. Section 1701.310(e), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) A person trained and certified by the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice to serve as a corrections officer in that
agency's correctional institutions division is not required to
complete the training requirements of this section to be appointed
a part-time county jailer. Examinations under Section 1701.304 and
psychological [and physical] examinations under Section 1701.306
apply.
SECTION 4. Subchapter H, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 1701.3515 to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.3515. CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIRED FOR COUNTY
JAILERS. Each county jailer shall complete a program described by
Section 1701.352(b) at least once every 48 months. The commission
may suspend the license of a county jailer who fails to comply with
this requirement.
SECTION 5. Section 1701.352(b), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The commission shall require a state, county, special
district, or municipal agency that appoints or employs peace
officers or county jailers to provide each peace officer or county
jailer with a training program at least once every 48 months that is
approved by the commission and consists of:
(1) topics selected by the agency; and
(2) for an officer holding only a basic proficiency
certificate or a county jailer, not more than 20 hours of education
and training that contain curricula incorporating the learning
objectives developed by the commission regarding:
(A) civil rights, racial sensitivity, and
cultural diversity;
(B) de-escalation and crisis intervention
techniques to facilitate interaction with persons with mental
impairments; and
(C) unless determined by the agency head to be
inconsistent with the officer's or jailer's assigned duties:
(i) the recognition and documentation of
cases that involve child abuse or neglect, family violence, and
sexual assault; and
(ii) issues concerning sex offender
characteristics.
SECTION 6. Section 1701.353, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.353. CONTINUING EDUCATION PROCEDURES. (a) The
commission by rule shall adopt procedures to:
(1) ensure the timely and accurate reporting by
agencies and persons licensed under this chapter [peace officers]
of information related to training programs offered under this
subchapter, including procedures for creating training records for
license holders [individual peace officers]; and
(2) provide adequate notice to agencies and license
holders [peace officers] of impending noncompliance with the
training requirements of this subchapter so that the agencies and
license holders [peace officers] may comply within the 24-month
period or 48-month period, as appropriate.
(b) The commission shall require agencies to report to the
commission in a timely manner the reasons that a license holder
[peace officer] is in noncompliance after the agency receives
notice by the commission of the license holder's [peace officer's]
noncompliance. The commission shall, following receipt of an
agency's report or on a determination that the agency has failed to
report in a timely manner, notify the license holder [peace
officer] by certified mail of the reasons the license holder [peace
officer] is in noncompliance and that the commission at the request
of the license holder [peace officer] will hold a hearing as
provided by this subsection if the license holder [peace officer]
fails to obtain the required training within 60 days after the date
the license holder [peace officer] receives notice under this
subsection. The commission shall conduct a hearing consistent with
Section 1701.504 if the license holder [peace officer] claims that:
(1) mitigating circumstances exist; or
(2) the license holder [peace officer] failed to
complete the required training because the license holder's [peace
officer's] employing agency did not provide an adequate opportunity
for the license holder [peace officer] to attend the required
training course.
SECTION 7. Subchapter H, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 1701.358 to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.358. INITIAL TRAINING AND CONTINUING EDUCATION
FOR POLICE CHIEFS. A police chief shall complete the initial
training and continuing education required under Section 96.641,
Education Code.
SECTION 8. Section 1701.055(d), Occupations Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
1701.306, Occupations Code, apply to a license for which an
application is filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A
license application filed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the application was filed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.