Relating to the procedures and practices of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department regarding grievances submitted by department employees and former department employees and to the eligibility of a person to be appointed , the official text

H.B. No. 4263

AN ACT

relating to the procedures and practices of the Texas Juvenile

Justice Department regarding grievances submitted by department

employees and former department employees and to the eligibility of

a person to be appointed to the department's release review panel

and the authority of a panel member.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 242.004(c), Human Resources Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(c) The department shall establish procedures and practices

governing:

(1) employment-related grievances submitted by

department employees; and

(2) grievances challenging disciplinary termination

of employment [disciplinary actions within the department,

including a procedure allowing a department employee to elect to

participate in an independent dismissal mediation if the employee

is recommended for dismissal].

SECTION 2. Section 245.101(c), Human Resources Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(c) The executive director shall determine the size of the

panel described by Subsection (b) and the length of the members'

terms of service on the panel. The panel must consist of an odd

number of members and the terms of the panel's members must last for

at least two years. The executive director shall adopt policies

that ensure the transparency, consistency, and objectivity of the

panel's composition, procedures, and decisions. The executive

director shall appoint persons to serve as members of the panel. A

person appointed to the panel must be a department employee [who

works at the department's central office]. A member of the panel

may not be involved in any determination under this chapter

[supervisory decisions] concerning a child [children] in the

custody of the department for whom that panel member has made a

supervisory decision.

SECTION 3. As soon as practicable after the effective date

of this Act, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department shall establish

the procedures and practices required by Section 242.004(c), Human

Resources Code, as amended by this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________
______________________________

President of the Senate
Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 4263 was passed by the House on May 8,

2025, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not

voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.

No. 4263 on May 28, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 136, Nays 0,

1 present, not voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 4263 was passed by the Senate, with

amendments, on May 23, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays

0.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

APPROVED: __________________

Date

__________________

Governor