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UPDATE!! On Wednesday, May 25,2011 HB 623 passed the House
by a vote of 106 to 14 on 3rd reading was engrossed and sent to
the Senate. An amendment giving Summary Judgement authority to
the ALJ also was added to the bill by a vote of 118-0. The bill
now survives Crossover and should be heard in the Senate soon.
Stay tuned.
GOOD NEWS FOR STATE LEO AND DOC PBA MEMBERS
Administrative Law Judges (ALJ’s) One Step
Closer To Being The Final Decision-Maker In Contested Employee
Cases, Finally!
HB 623
Eliminate Agency Final Decision Authority
Primary Sponsors: Representative Darrell McCormick, Sarah
Stevens, George Cleveland and Rick Glazier
For more than a decade, PBA has supported legislation that would
give final decision-making authority in employee suspension and
termination cases to the independent and true tryer of the
facts: the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).
For years, PBA has spent thousands of dollars and members have
endured many months of unpaid suspension waiting for justice,
only to have the ALJ’s decision simply ignored by the very
employing agency that suspended or fired the officers in the
first place.
As you may recall, Trooper Charles Jones won his case many
times, including before the ALJ. Despite five separate wins
before five separate tribunals, Trooper Jones is still waiting
to be reinstated five years after his initial suspension,
because his agency could ignore the ALJ’s ruling for
reinstatement. Since then, the former governor who ordered the
agency to ignore the judge is a convicted felon and the former
mouthpiece of the Highway Patrol who delivered the unlawful
order has resigned following a scandal involving “inappropriate
conduct” with another trooper’s spouse.
Trooper Jones, on the other hand, has received two Medals of
Valor for bravery under fire and the saving of lives while
employed with another law enforcement agency and has recently
been named Officer and Town Employee of the Year.
HB 623 has again been postponed for third reading until
Wednesday, May 25, 2011, where if passed, will be sent to the
Senate.
Call your representative today and encourage them to vote for
the passage of HB 623 on third reading. |