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SB 1115

SAFETY-TECH

104th Regular Session Introduced by John Curran

Expands ERS to credit custodial-officer service for TJJD juvenile correctional officers and caseworkers, enabling custodial-service retirement credits and related benefits.

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Bill Summary · SB 1115

SB 1115 (Hinojosa) — SAFETY-TECH (Texas) — Summary

Note: Several states use the bill number SB 1115; this summary covers the Texas bill introduced Feb. 5, 2025 by Sen. Hinojosa (Nueces) as provided in the text — a bill that amends Employees Retirement System (ERS) law to treat certain Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) employees as custodial officers for retirement purposes.

Purpose / Intent

To expand the ERS definition and crediting of “custodial officer” service to explicitly include juvenile correctional officers and juvenile caseworkers employed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, so those employees may receive custodial-officer retirement service credit and related supplemental benefits and to establish implementation processes.

Key provisions

  • Amends Government Code §811.001:

    • Revises the definition of “custodial officer” and adds §811.001(8-b) to define “juvenile correctional officer” by reference to Human Resources Code §242.009.
    • Confirms that custodial-officer status can include certain transferred employees in managed health care units (existing language preserved/clarified).

  • Amends Government Code §813.506:

    • Adds §813.506(b-1): service credited as custodial officer under the TJJD must be performed as a juvenile correctional officer or caseworker.
    • Clarifies that determinations by TDCJ, managed health care units, TJJD, or Board of Pardons and Paroles about a person’s custodial-officer eligibility are not appealable by the employee but the retirement system may change such determinations.

  • Amends Government Code §815.505:

    • Requires relevant agencies (including TJJD and other state enforcement/public safety agencies) to certify names and necessary information to ERS monthly (by the 12th day following the month in which employment begins or ends) for proper crediting and financing of benefits.

  • Applicability and transition rules (Section 4):

    • Changes apply to TJJD members employed as juvenile correctional officers or caseworkers effective regardless of hire date, but (except as noted) only to custodial service credit established on or after the bill’s effective date.
    • Service credit earned before the effective date while holding juvenile correctional officer/caseworker positions is to be treated as custodial-officer service for computing benefits from the law enforcement/custodial supplemental retirement fund (Chapter 820), subject to the limitation below.
    • A member who would otherwise be eligible under the pre-effective-date conversion cannot receive benefits from the law enforcement fund based on that converted custodial credit if the member retires before September 1, 2027.

  • Implementation duties:

    • ERS board of trustees must adopt necessary rules in consultation with TJJD.
    • TJJD must certify existing employees (names, pre-effective-date service credit amounts, and other required data) to ERS as soon as practicable after the bill’s effective date and must begin making required payroll deductions and contributions beginning with the first pay period after the effective date under applicable ERS contribution provisions.

  • Effective date:

    • The Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

Who is affected

  • Primary: ERS members employed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department as juvenile correctional officers or juvenile caseworkers.
  • Secondary: ERS board and staff (rulemaking, benefit administration), TJJD (certification and payroll collection duties), and state agencies that certify law-enforcement/custodial status.
  • Fiscal impacts: Increased or reclassified benefit liabilities and contribution flows to ERS and related supplemental retirement funds (not quantified in the bill text; ERS actuarial/fiscal analysis would estimate).

Procedural / timeline notes

  • ERS must issue rules and TJJD must certify employees and begin contribution collection immediately after the bill’s effective date (Sept. 1, 2025).
  • Converted pre-effective-date service is recognized for benefit calculation, but members who retire before Sept. 1, 2027 cannot claim law-enforcement-fund benefits based on that conversion.

If you want, I can draft a one-page explainer for affected employees (what they should expect about contributions, benefit statements, and where to ask questions) or outline likely fiscal questions ERS would need to address.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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