HBA-DMD H.B. 166 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 166
By: Chisum
Pensions & Investments
2/23/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, officers with prior law enforcement service who are entering a
state law enforcement agency do not receive any consideration for previous
hazardous duty and lose their retirement tenure. This can be an obstacle to
the recruitment of experienced officers for state service.  H.B. 166
authorizes officers to establish retirement credit for previous service as
a commissioned peace officer.  The bill prohibits an officer from
establishing more than 60 months of service credit. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate  any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Subchapter F, Chapter 813, Government Code, by adding
Section 813.511, as follows: 

Sec. 813.511.  PREVIOUS PEACE OFFICER SERVICE.  (a) Authorizes an eligible
member to establish retirement credit for previous service as a peace
officer licensed by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
Education, or not required to be licensed by that commission, and
commissioned by a municipal police department or county sheriff's office in
this state.   

(b)  Provides that an eligible member is one who is a contributing member
as a law enforcement or custodial officer and applies for credit before the
second anniversary of the date the member became a law enforcement or
custodial officer.   

(c)  Authorizes a member to establish credit by depositing with the
retirement system for each service month claimed, a contribution computed
on the member's compensation for the service as a peace officer at the
combined rates required of the state and employee members of the retirement
system at the time the service was performed, plus interest on that amount
as computed on the basis of the state fiscal year at an annual rate of 10
percent from the date the service was performed to the date of deposit.   

(d)  Prohibits a member from establishing more than 60 months of service
credit and from using the credit established under this section to meet a
minimum service requirement for an annuity.  Authorizes credit to be
established by a lump-sum payment or payments authorized by Section 813.104
(Alternative Payment to Establish or Reestablish Service Credit).
Prohibits credit from being established for service that is currently
credited in another public retirement system.   

(e)  Sets forth that the state is not required to make contributions for
service established under this section.   

(f)  Authorizes the retirement system to require credit applicants under
this section to submit any information the system considers essential to
enable it to determine eligibility for, or amount of, credit, or amounts of
required contributions. 
 
SECTION 2.  Authorizes a person who on the effective date of this Act has
been a member of the Employees Retirement System as a law enforcement or
custodial officer for two years or more to apply for service credit under
this section before January 1, 2000. 

SECTION 3.  Effective date:  September 1, 1999.

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause.