juvenile justice staff join the retire-at-55 plan

The text as introduced · 1,657 words

89R8768 RDR-F

By: Geren
H.B. No. 4537

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to service retirement benefits payable by the Employees

Retirement System of Texas to certain law enforcement officers and

custodial officers.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 811.001(8) and (9), Government Code,

are amended to read as follows:

(8) "Custodial officer" :

(A) means a member of the retirement system who

is employed :

(i) by the Board of Pardons and Paroles or

the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as a parole officer or

caseworker ;

(ii) by the Texas Juvenile Justice

Department in a position in which the member's service is

creditable as a custodial officer under Section 813.506(b-1); or

(iii) [ who is employed ] by the correctional

institutions division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice

and certified by the department as having a normal job assignment

that requires frequent or infrequent regularly planned contact

with, and [ in ] close proximity to, inmates or defendants of the

correctional institutions division without the protection of bars,

doors, security screens, or similar devices and includes

assignments normally involving supervision or the potential for

supervision of inmates in inmate housing areas, educational or

recreational facilities, industrial shops, kitchens, laundries,

medical areas, agricultural shops or fields, or in other areas on or

away from property of the department ; and

(B) [ . The term ] includes a member who transfers

from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to the managed health

care unit of The University of Texas Medical Branch or the Texas

Tech University Health Sciences Center pursuant to Section 9.01,

Chapter 238, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, elects at the time

of transfer to retain membership in the retirement system, and is

certified by the managed health care unit or the health sciences

center as having a normal job assignment described by Paragraph

(A)(iii) [ this subdivision ].

(9) "Law enforcement officer" means a member of the

retirement system who:

(A) has been commissioned as a peace [ law

enforcement ] officer by :

(i) the Department of Public Safety ; [ , ]

(ii) the Texas Alcoholic Beverage

Commission ; [ , ]

(iii) the Parks and Wildlife Department ;

(iv) [ , or ] the office of inspector general

at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department ;

(v) the comptroller; or

(vi) the attorney general ; and

(B) is licensed [ recognized ] as a commissioned

peace [ law enforcement ] officer by the Texas Commission on Law

Enforcement.

SECTION 2. Section 813.506, Government Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (b-1) and amending Subsection (c) to read as

follows:

(b-1) The Texas Juvenile Justice Department shall adopt

standards for determining eligibility for service credit as a

custodial officer employed by the department based on the need to

encourage early retirement of persons whose duties are hazardous.

To be creditable as custodial officer service under the Texas

Juvenile Justice Department, service must be performed:

(1) as a juvenile correctional officer, as that term

is defined by Section 242.009, Human Resources Code, or a

caseworker; or

(2) in a position, other than a position described by

Subdivision (1), the primary duties of which include the custodial

supervision of or other close, regularly planned contact with youth

in the custody of the department.

(c) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the managed

health care unit of The University of Texas Medical Branch or the

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the Texas Juvenile

Justice Department, or the Board of Pardons and Paroles, as

applicable, shall determine a person's eligibility to receive

credit as a custodial officer. A determination under this

subsection [ of the department, unit, or board ] may not be appealed

by an employee but is subject to change by the retirement system.

SECTION 3. Section 814.104(b), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(b) A member is eligible to retire and receive a service

retirement annuity if the member:

(1) [ who ] is at least 55 years old ; and

(2) [ who ] has at least 10 years of service credit as a :

(A) law enforcement officer; [ commissioned peace

officer engaged in criminal law enforcement activities of the

Department of Public Safety, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage

Commission, the Parks and Wildlife Department, or the office of

inspector general at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, ] or

(B) [ as a ] custodial officer[ , is eligible to

retire and receive a service retirement annuity ].

SECTION 4. Section 815.505, Government Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 815.505. CERTIFICATION OF NAMES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND

CUSTODIAL OFFICERS. Not later than the 12th day of the month

following the month in which a person begins or ceases employment as

a law enforcement officer or custodial officer, the governmental

entity that employs or ceased employing the law enforcement officer

or custodial officer [ Public Safety Commission, the Texas Alcoholic

Beverage Commission, the Parks and Wildlife Commission, the office

of inspector general at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, the

Board of Pardons and Paroles, or the Texas Board of Criminal

Justice ], as applicable, shall certify to the retirement system, in

the manner prescribed by the system, the name of the employee and

such other information as the system determines is necessary for

the crediting of service and financing of benefits under this

subtitle.

SECTION 5. (a) Subject to Subsection (b) or (c) of this

section, as applicable, the changes in law made by this Act apply to

a member of the Employees Retirement System of Texas who is employed

by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, the comptroller, or the

attorney general as a law enforcement officer or custodial officer,

as applicable, on or after the effective date of this Act,

regardless of whether the member was hired before, on, or after the

effective date of this Act.

(b) This subsection applies only to a member described by

Subsection (a) of this section and not subject to Subsection (c) of

this section who, on December 1, 2024, was employed in a law

enforcement officer or custodial officer position with the Texas

Juvenile Justice Department, the comptroller, or the attorney

general, as applicable. Service credit earned by the member before

the effective date of this Act in a position for which service is

creditable as a law enforcement officer or custodial officer under

Subtitle B, Title 8, Government Code, as amended by this Act, is

considered service credit established as a law enforcement officer

or custodial officer, as applicable, for purposes of determining

the benefits payable from the law enforcement and custodial officer

supplemental retirement fund.

(c) This subsection applies only to a member described by

Subsection (a) of this section who is subject to Chapter 820,

Government Code. The member may establish service credit as a law

enforcement officer or custodial officer with the Texas Juvenile

Justice Department, the comptroller, or the attorney general, as

applicable, only for service performed on or after the effective

date of this Act.

(d) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this

Act, the board of trustees of the Employees Retirement System of

Texas, in consultation with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department,

the comptroller, and the attorney general, shall adopt rules

necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act.

(e) The Texas Juvenile Justice Department, the comptroller,

and the attorney general shall:

(1) as soon as practicable after the effective date of

this Act, certify to the Employees Retirement System of Texas, in

the form and manner prescribed by the board of trustees of the

retirement system:

(A) the name of each member who is employed by the

department, comptroller, or attorney general as a law enforcement

officer or custodial officer on the effective date of this Act;

(B) if the member is subject to Subsection (b) of

this section, the amount of service credit established by the

member as a law enforcement officer or custodial officer before the

effective date of this Act; and

(C) any other information the retirement system

determines is necessary to credit law enforcement officer or

custodial officer service in accordance with the changes in law

made by this Act; and

(2) beginning with the first pay period that occurs

after the effective date of this Act and with respect to each member

employed by the department, comptroller, or attorney general as a

law enforcement officer or custodial officer, begin making

deductions and collecting member contributions for the law

enforcement and custodial officer supplemental retirement fund as

prescribed by Section 815.402(h) or 820.101(b), Government Code, as

applicable.

SECTION 6. (a) The Employees Retirement System of Texas is

required to implement this Act only if the board of trustees of the

Employees Retirement System of Texas finds that the 89th

Legislature appropriated money to the retirement system in an

amount sufficient to implement Section 5(b) of this Act, without

increasing the unfunded actuarial liabilities of the retirement

system. The amount appropriated by the 89th Legislature to

implement Section 5(b) of this Act must be in addition to any

amounts the state is required to contribute to the retirement

system under Subchapter E, Chapter 815, Government Code. If the

board of trustees of the Employees Retirement System of Texas finds

that the 89th Legislature did not appropriate money in an amount

sufficient to implement Section 5(b) of this Act without increasing

the unfunded actuarial liabilities of the retirement system, the

retirement system may not implement this Act.

(b) Not later than October 1, 2025, the board of trustees of

the Employees Retirement System of Texas shall make and publish in

the Texas Register:

(1) its finding under Subsection (a) of this section;

and

(2) a statement regarding whether, as a result of its

finding, the retirement system is or is not implementing this Act.

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.