SB1115 - Relating to eligibility for custodial officer service in the Employees Retirement System of Texas by certain juvenile correctional officers and caseworkers employed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

  89R1444 RDR-D     By: Hinojosa of Nueces S.B. No. 1115       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to eligibility for custodial officer service in the   Employees Retirement System of Texas by certain juvenile   correctional officers and caseworkers employed by the Texas   Juvenile Justice Department.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 811.001, Government Code, is amended by   amending Subdivision (8) and adding Subdivision (8-b) 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 as a juvenile correctional officer or caseworker; 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 ].                 (8-b)     "Juvenile correctional officer" has the meaning   assigned by Section 242.009, Human Resources Code.          SECTION 2.  Section 813.506, Government Code, is amended by   adding Subsection (b-1) and amending Subsection (c) to read as   follows:           (b-1)     To be creditable as custodial officer service under   the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, service must be performed as   a juvenile correctional officer or caseworker.          (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 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 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 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 4.  (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply:                (1)  to a member of the Employees Retirement System of   Texas who is employed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department as a   juvenile correctional officer or caseworker on or after the   effective date of this Act regardless of whether the member was   hired by the department before, on, or after the effective date of   this Act; and                (2)  except as provided by Subsection (b) of this   section, only to service credit that is established on or after the   effective date of this Act.          (b)  Service credit established by a member who is employed   by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department as a juvenile correctional   officer or caseworker and who is not subject to Chapter 820,   Government Code, that was earned by the member in the position of a   juvenile correctional officer or caseworker before the effective   date of this Act, is considered service credit established as a   custodial officer for purposes of determining the benefits payable   from the law enforcement and custodial officer supplemental   retirement fund.          (c)  Notwithstanding Subsection (b) of this section, a   member subject to that subsection may not receive benefits payable   from the law enforcement and custodial officer supplemental   retirement fund based on the service credit described by that   subsection if the member retires before September 1, 2027.          (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,   shall adopt rules necessary to implement the changes in law made by   this Act.          (e)  The Texas Juvenile Justice Department 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 as a juvenile correctional officer or caseworker 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 juvenile correctional officer or caseworker before the   effective date of this Act; and                      (C)  any other information the retirement system   determines is necessary to credit 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 as a juvenile correctional officer or   caseworker, begin making deductions and collecting 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 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.