Case Title: Patton v. City of Grand Prairie

Citation: 686 S.W.2d 108

Docket Number: C-3495

State: texas

Court: Texas Supreme Court

Date: 1985-03-13T00:00:00Z

Document:
686 S.W.2d 108 (1985) Alan T. PATTON, Petitioner, v. CITY OF GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas, et al., Respondents. No. C-3495. Supreme Court of Texas. March 13, 1985. *109 Joseph R. Gilbreath and Kenneth W. Hale, Austin, for petitioner. R. Clayton Hutchins, City Atty., Grand Prairie, for respondents. WALLACE, Justice. This is an appeal by a city police officer who was suspended pursuant to the Firemen's and Policemen's Civil Service Act.[1] Alan T. Patton was indefinitely suspended on November 23, 1981, by the Chief of Police of the City of Grand Prairie, Texas. Patton appealed the suspension to the Grand Prairie Civil Service Commission which reduced the suspension to ten days without pay. Patton then appealed the Commission order to the District Court of Dallas County which dismissed the appeal after determining that it did not have subject matter jurisdiction. The court of appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court. 675 S.W.2d 794. We reverse the judgment of the court of appeals and remand the cause to the trial court. The pivotal issue in this case is whether the civil service commission of a city may, after hearing, reduce an indefinite suspension to a disciplinary suspension of 15 days or less, and thus foreclose the affected officer's right to appeal the commission's order to a district court. Section 16 of the Act, pertaining to an indefinite suspension, provides in pertinent part: Section 18 of the Act provides in pertinent part: Section 20 of the Act provides in pertinent part: The Act, as amended, thus provides that the commission may reduce an indefinite suspension to a temporary suspension. However, Section 18, as amended, unequivocally provides that the affected officer may appeal any decision of the commission to the district court. Section 20, as amended, provides that the commission must hold a hearing upon appeal to the commission by the suspended officer. We, *110 therefore, hold that it is immaterial whether the suspension handed down by the police chief was an indefinite suspension or a disciplinary suspension. Any decision of a city's civil service commission concerning a suspension is now appealable to the district court whether it arises from a Section 16 indefinite suspension or from a Section 20 temporary suspension. The decision of this court in Firemen's and Policemen's Civil Service Commission of the City of Fort Worth v. Blanchard, 582 S.W.2d 778 (Tex. 1979), and the courts of civil appeals' decisions in Fox v. Carr, 552 S.W.2d 885 (Tex. Civ.App.Texarkana 1977, no writ) and Crawford v. City of Houston, 600 S.W.2d 891 (Tex.Civ.App.Houston [1st Dist.] 1980, no writ), are no longer controlling due to the above mentioned amendments to Sections 18 and 20 of the Act. We approve the reasoning of City of Laredo v. Solis, 665 S.W.2d 523 (Tex.App.San Antonio 1983, no writ) to the extent that it holds any suspension, indefinite or temporary, which gives rise to a hearing before the civil service commission, entitles the affected officer to appeal the commission order to a district court. We further hold that the record before us does not support the motion for summary judgment of Officer Patton. The judgment of the court of appeals is reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court. [1] All references are to TEX.REV.CIV.STAT. ANN. art. 1269m (Vernon's Supp.1983).