TITLE: Relating to legislative leave for correctional officers employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

SUMMARY: Relating to legislative leave for correctional officers employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to legislative leave for correctional officers employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 493.0075 to read as follows: Sec. 493.0075. DONATION OF ACCRUED COMPENSATORY TIME OR ACCRUED ANNUAL LEAVE FOR LEGISLATIVE PURPOSES. (a) The executive director shall allow a correctional officer employed by the department to voluntarily transfer to a legislative leave pool up to eight hours of compensatory time or annual leave per year earned by the correctional officer. (b) The executive director or the executive director's designee shall administer the legislative leave pool. (c) The board shall adopt rules and prescribe procedures relating to the operation of the legislative leave pool. (d) The executive director or the executive director's designee shall credit the legislative leave pool with the amount of time contributed by a correctional officer employed by the department and deduct a corresponding amount of time from the correctional officer's earned compensatory time or annual leave as if the correctional officer had used the time for personal purposes. (e) A correctional officer employed by the department is entitled to use time contributed to the legislative leave pool if the correctional officer uses the time for legislative leave on behalf of an association: (1) related to the correctional officer's employment with the department; (2) that has at least 5,000 active or retired members; and (3) that is governed by a board of directors. (f) The executive director or the executive director's designee shall transfer time from the pool to the correctional officer and credit the time to the correctional officer. (g) A correctional officer employed by the department may only withdraw time from the legislative leave pool in coordination with and with the consent of the president or designee of the association described in Subsection (e). A correctional officer may not draw more than 80 hours from the pool in a 160-hour work cycle and may not draw more than 480 hours from the pool in a fiscal year. (h) A correctional officer employed by the department shall use time from the legislative leave pool in accordance with rules adopted by the board. SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.