Sec. 143.113. ASSIGNMENT PAY. (a) In this section:

(1) "Bilingual personnel" means a member of the fire or police department who in the performance of the member's duties is capable of effectively translating orally a language other than English into English, and when necessary, effectively translating the language into written English.

(2) "Emergency ambulance attendant" means a member of the fire department who provides emergency medical care and emergency transportation for members of the public.

(3) "Field training officer" means a member of the fire department who is assigned to and performs the duties and responsibilities of the field training officers program.

(4) "Hazardous materials response team personnel" means a member of the fire department who is assigned to a hazardous materials response team and stabilizes or participates in the stabilization of hazardous materials in an emergency.

(b) The municipality's governing body may authorize assignment pay for emergency ambulance attendants, field training officers, and hazardous materials response team personnel. The municipality's governing body may authorize assignment pay for fire fighters or police officers who perform specialized functions in their respective departments, including but not limited to career patrol officers. The assignment pay is in an amount and is payable under conditions set by ordinance and is in addition to the regular pay received by members of the fire department. The head of the fire department or police department is not eligible for the assignment pay authorized by this subsection.

(c) The municipality's governing body may authorize assignment pay for bilingual personnel performing specialized functions as interpreters or translators in their respective departments. The assignment pay is in an amount and is payable under conditions set by ordinance and is in addition to the regular pay received by members of the fire or police department. If the ordinance applies equally to each person who meets the criteria established by the ordinance, the ordinance may provide for payment to each fire fighter or police officer who meets testing or other certification criteria for an assignment, or the ordinance may set criteria that will determine the foreign languages in which a person must be fluent or other criteria for eligibility. The ordinance may provide for different rates of pay according to a person's capability and may allow more pay to those persons who are capable of translating orally and into written English. The heads of the fire and police departments are not eligible for the assignment pay authorized by this subsection.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 854, Sec. 5, eff. June 14, 1989.