Sec. 1701.157. MONEY ALLOCATED AND USED FOR TRAINING OR CONTINUING EDUCATION. (a) Not later than March 1 of each calendar year, the comptroller shall allocate money deposited during the preceding calendar year in the general revenue fund to the credit of the law enforcement officer standards and education fund account for expenses related to the continuing education of persons licensed under this chapter as follows:

(1) 20 percent of the money is allocated to all local law enforcement agencies in this state in equal shares; and

(2) 80 percent of the money is allocated to all local law enforcement agencies in this state in a share representing a fixed amount for each position in the agency, as of January 1 of the preceding calendar year, that is reserved to a person who:

(A) is licensed under this chapter;

(B) works as a peace officer or telecommunicator, as defined by Section 1701.001, on the average of at least 32 hours a week; and

(C) is compensated by a political subdivision of this state at least at the minimum wage and is entitled to all employee benefits offered to a peace officer or telecommunicator, as applicable, by the political subdivision.

(a-1) Subsection (a) does not apply to money appropriated to the Department of Public Safety from the account for the purpose of awarding grants to local law enforcement agencies for training on incident-based reporting systems under Section 1701.156(c).

(b) To provide the necessary information for an allocation of money under Subsection (a), a local law enforcement agency must report to the comptroller not later than November 1 of the preceding calendar year:

(1) the number of agency positions described by Subsection (a)(2) authorized as of January 1 of the year the report is due;

(2) the number of agency positions described by Subsection (a)(2) filled as of January 1 of the year the report is due;

(3) the percentage of the money received by the agency under Subsection (a) pursuant to the allocation made by the comptroller on or before March 1 of the year preceding the year in which the report is due that was used by the agency before the date of the allocation made by the comptroller under Subsection (a) on or before March 1 of the year the report is due;

(4) the number of training hours received during the 12-month or approximately 12-month period described by Subdivision (3) that were funded by money received by the agency pursuant to the allocation made by the comptroller on or before March 1 of the year preceding the year in which the report is due; and

(5) that the agency has complied with the requirements of this section regarding the use of any money received by the agency pursuant to the allocation made by the comptroller on or before March 1 of the year preceding the year in which the report is due.

(c) The head of a law enforcement agency shall maintain a complete and detailed record of money received and spent by the agency under this section. Money received under this section is subject to audit by the comptroller. Money spent under this section is subject to audit by the state auditor.

(d) A local law enforcement agency shall use money received under Subsection (a) only as necessary to ensure the continuing education of persons licensed under this chapter or to provide necessary training, as determined by the agency head, to full-time fully paid law enforcement support personnel in the agency.

(e) A local law enforcement agency may not use money received under Subsection (a) to replace funds that are provided to the agency by the county or municipality having jurisdiction over the agency on a recurring basis for training law enforcement officers and support personnel.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1172 (H.B. 3389), Sec. 6, eff. September 1, 2009.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 448 (H.B. 7), Sec. 34, eff. September 1, 2015.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 792 (H.B. 2680), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2015.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 792 (H.B. 2680), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2015.