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

Contracts

• Association Bylaws: Qualifying Employee Associations must amend bylaws or operational handbooks to explicitly designate the President (or a specific written designee) as the sole authority for approving leave withdrawals.
• Private Vendor Agreements: While this law applies to state employees, private prison operators should review Master Service Agreements (MSAs). If "parity of benefits" clauses exist, vendors may be contractually obligated to offer a similar leave mechanism.

Hiring/Training

• Payroll/HR Training: TDCJ HR staff must be trained on two new transaction codes: (1) Donation of time (deduction from individual, credit to pool) and (2) Withdrawal of pool time (legislative leave status).
• Association Leadership: Officers designated to use the pool must be trained on permissible "legislative activities" to avoid fraud or misuse of funds allegations.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Donation Forms: A standardized, auditable form must be created for officers to voluntarily transfer up to 8 hours of compensatory or annual leave.
• Consent Documentation: Employee Associations must maintain a written log of "coordination and consent" for every hour withdrawn. This serves as the primary defense against absenteeism claims.
• Membership Validation: Associations must maintain auditable records proving a membership threshold of at least 5,000 active or retired officers to qualify for this privilege.

Fees & Costs

• Budget Neutrality: The law is designed to be cost-neutral to the State, as leave is donated rather than granted additionally.
• Administrative Costs: Associations will absorb the administrative overhead of managing leave requests and coordinating with TDCJ payroll.