Sec. 143.3015. LIMITATION ON MUNICIPALITIES COVERED BY SUBCHAPTER: VOTER APPROVAL. (a) The governing body of a municipality with a population less than 560,000 that has not recognized an association as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent as provided by Section 143.304 before September 1, 2001, must receive voter approval under this section before operating under the other provisions of this subchapter.

(b) The governing body shall call an election if:

(1) a majority of the members of the governing body vote to hold the election; or

(2) the voters submit a petition requesting the election as required by this section.

(c) A petition for election must:

(1) be signed by a number of qualified voters of the municipality equal to at least 10 percent of the number of voters who voted in the most recent municipal election for mayor; and

(2) comply with Chapter 277, Election Code.

(d) Not later than the 40th working day after the date a petition is presented to the governing body, the municipal secretary shall certify to the governing body the number and percentage of registered voters signing the petition.

(e) Upon receiving a petition in compliance with this subchapter, the governing body shall order an election submitting to the voters the question of whether this subchapter should be adopted for firefighters, police officers, or both. The election must be held on the first authorized uniform election date prescribed by Chapter 41, Election Code, that occurs after the petition is filed and that allows sufficient time to comply with other requirements of law.

(f) The ballot for an election called under this section shall be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition: "Authorizing (name of the governing body of the municipality) to recognize an employee association as a sole and exclusive bargaining agent for the municipal (insert firefighters, police officers, or both, as applicable,) and authorizing the (name of the governing body of the municipality) to make agreements with the employee association as provided by state law."

(g) An election authorized by this section shall be held and the returns shall be prepared and canvassed in conformity with the Election Code.

(h) The municipality may operate under the other provisions of this subchapter only if a majority of the votes cast at the election favor the proposition.

(i) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (h), a municipality with a population of less than 560,000 that has not recognized an association as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent as provided by Section 143.304 before September 1, 2005, may adopt rules for police officers converting vacation and sick leave days to hours that supersede the provisions of Section 142.0013, Section 143.045, and Section 143.046 provided that:

(1) A police officer is entitled to earn 120 hours of vacation leave each year with pay, as a minimum, if the officer has been regularly employed in the department or departments for at least one year.

(2) In computing the length of time a police officer may be absent from work on vacation leave, only those hours that the person would have been required to work if not on vacation may be counted as vacation leave.

(3) A police officer shall be granted the same number of vacation hours and holiday hours, or hours in lieu of vacation hours or holiday hours, granted to other municipal employees who work the same number of hours in a regular work day and have worked for the municipality for the same number of years.

(4) A police officer shall be granted sick leave with pay accumulated at the rate of 10 hours for each full month employed in a calendar year, so as to total 120 hours to the person's credit each 12 months.

(5) A police officer who leaves the classified service for any reason is entitled to receive in a lump-sum payment the full amount of the person's salary for accumulated sick leave if the person has accumulated not more than 720 hours of sick leave, the person's employer may limit payment to the amount that the person would have received if the person had been allowed to use 720 hours of accumulated sick leave during the last six months of employment. The lump-sum payment is computed by compensating the police officer for the accumulated time at the highest permanent pay classification for which the person was eligible during the last six months of employment. The police officer is paid for the same period for which the person had taken the sick leave but does not include additional holidays and any sick leave or vacation time that the person might have accrued during the 720 hours.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 425, Sec. 1, eff. May 28, 2001.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1193 (H.B. 304), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2005.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 145 (S.B. 189), Sec. 1, eff. May 21, 2007.