1. (a) Before a law enforcement agency may hire a person licensed under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1701, the agency head or the agency head's designee must:

   1. (1) make a request to the commission for any employment termination report(s) regarding the person maintained by the commission under this chapter; and

   2. (2) submit to the commission in a manner prescribed by the commission confirmation that the agency:

      1. (A) conducted in the manner prescribed by the commission a background investigation of the person on a form that meets or exceeds the form prescribed by the commission;
      2. (B) obtained the person's written consent on a form prescribed by the commission for the agency to view the person's employment records;
      3. (C) obtained from the commission any service or education records regarding the person maintained by the commission; and
      4. (D) contacted each of the person's previous law enforcement employers.
2. (b) A request submitted electronically under this section must contain identifying information, acceptable to the commission, for verification.
3. (c) A law enforcement agency that obtains a consent form described by subsection (a)(2)(B) of this section shall make the person's employment records available to a hiring law enforcement agency on request.

4. (d) An agency that appoints an individual with less than a 180-day break in service who already holds a valid, active license appropriate to that position must notify the commission of such appointment not later than 30 days after the date of appointment. The appointing agency must have on file:

   1. (1) documentation that the agency has met the requirements in subsection (a) of this section; and
   2. (2) documentation that a peace officer is compliant with weapons qualification standards within the last 12 months.

5. (e) If the appointment is made after a 180-day break in service, the agency must have the following on file and readily accessible to the commission:

   1. (1) documentation that the agency has met the requirements in subsection (a) of this section;
   2. (2) a new criminal history check by name, sex, race and date of birth from both TCIC and NCIC;
   3. (3) a new declaration of psychological and emotional health;
   4. (4) a new declaration of lack of any drug dependency or illegal drug use;
   5. (5) one completed applicant fingerprint card or, pending receipt of such card, an original sworn, notarized affidavit by the applicant of their complete criminal history; such affidavit to be maintained by the agency while awaiting the return of completed applicant fingerprint card; and
   6. (6) for peace officers, weapons qualification standards within the last 12 months.
6. (f) When an individual licensed by the commission separates from appointment with an agency, the agency shall submit a report to the commission and to the licensee in the currently prescribed commission format that reports the separation. The report shall be submitted no later than the seventh business day after the licensee resigns, retires, is terminated, or separates from the agency and if applicable, exhausts all administrative appeals available to the licensee.

7. (g) Agencies must report the employment and separation of telecommunicators on a form prescribed by the commission. The reports must be submitted under the following guidelines:

   1. (1) within 30 days of employment; or
   2. (2) no later than the seventh business day after separation and if applicable, after all administrative appeals are exhausted.
8. (h) An agency must retain records kept under this section for a minimum of five years after the licensee's termination date with that agency. The records must be maintained in a format readily accessible to the commission.
9. (i) All information submitted under subsection (f) of this section is exempt from disclosure under the Public Information Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 552, unless the individual resigned or was terminated due to substantiated incidents of excessive force or violations of the law other than traffic offenses, and is subject to subpoena only in a judicial proceeding.
10. (j) The effective date of this section is February 1, 2014.

Source Note:The provisions of this §217.7 adopted to be effective May 1, 2009, 34 TexReg 2153; amended to be effective January 14, 2010, 34 TexReg 9477; amended to be effective July 15, 2010, 35 TexReg 5580; amended to be effective July 14, 2011, 36 TexReg 3933; amended to be effective January 1, 2012, 36 TexReg 8990; amended to be effective July 12, 2012, 37 TexReg 4603; amended to be effective February 1, 2014, 38 TexReg 9612.