HBA-NMO, MPA H.B. 2971 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2971 By: Staples County Affairs 11/1/1999 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The limited resources of many counties make temporary jailers an attractive alternative to full-time jailers. Prior to the 76th Legislature, state law authorized counties to appoint a person a county jailer on a temporary basis as long as the person completed a training program in the operation of a county jail within one year after the date of the person's original appointment. Facilities of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division (TDCJ-ID) train correctional officers for the job of guarding prison inmates. Many counties would like to utilize correctional officers as part-time, temporary jailers but, prior to the 76th Legislature, the hours of class time required took away from the correctional officers' primary job and often they did not continue as temporary jailers for this reason. H.B. 2971 exempts TDCJ-ID and state jail division trained and certified correctional officers from the temporary county jailer training requirements when seeking part-time employment as a county jailer. 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 Section 415.054, Government Code, by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d), to provide that a person trained and certified by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to serve as a corrections officer in that agency's institutional or state jail division is not required to complete the training requirements under this section (Appointment of County Jailer) to be appointed a part-time jailer. Requires that Section 415.056 (Examination), Government Code, and Section 415.057 (Psychological and Physical Examinations) apply to such a person. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.