2003 Recommendation 'ROUND ROCK, TEXAS
PURPOSE. PASSION. PROSPERITY.
July 24, 2003
Mayor Nyle Maxwell
Mayor Pro Tem Tom Nielson
Councilmember Alan McGraw
Councilmember Carrie Pitt
Councilmember Scot Knight
Councilmember Scott Rhode
Councilmember Gary Coe
Re: Official Report of the 2003 Round Rock Charter Review Commission
Dear Mayor Maxwell and Councilmembers:
As Chairman of the 2003 Charter Review Commission, I am pleased to provide you
with a report of our findings and recommendations for proposed amendments.The
official report of the Commission is enclosed herein and summarizes the
recommended amendments and includes a"redlined"version of the amendments.
On behalf of each member of the Commission I would like to express our
appreciation for allowing us to serve our community. It was both an honor and an
educational experience.
Sincerely,
'4ktlua, Jr., C firman
Mayor Charter Review Commission
Nyle Maxwell
Mayor Pro-tem On behalf of the Commission Members:
Tom Nielson
Steve Laukhuf, Vice-Chairman
Council Members Karen Adair-Murphy
Alan McGraw Cary Bovey
Carrie Pitt Jim Goodwin
Scot Knight Rufus Honeycutt, and
Isabel Callahan Scott Placek
Gary Coe
1-001, City Manager
Jim Nuse
City Attorney
Stephan L Sheets
CITY OF ROUND ROCK zzi East Main Street•Round Rock,Texas 78664
Phone. 512-218.54o0 Fax:512.2t8.7028• www.ci.round-rock.tx us
The Charter Review Commission's Official Report on
Its Findings and Proposed Charter Amendments Presented to
The City of Round Rock Mayor and Council
This report is being presented to the Mayor and Council pursuant to
Section 13.12 of the Round Rock Home Rule Charter.
The Round Rock Charter Review Commission ("Commission") held six (6)
meetings during which the Commission members discussed with staff and among
themselves various issues and concerns with the present Charter. At each
meeting an opportunity was given to citizens to address the Commission.
The Commission met and made the following recommendations for
amendments to the Charter.
1. To amend Sec. 4.01 (a) to provided that the City Manager shall be
bonded in an amount to be determined by the City Council.
2. To amend Sec. 4.01 (d) to provide that the City Manager shall have
the power to appoint one or more Assistant City Managers.
3. To amend Sec. 4.01(e) to clarify the provisions for designating an
Acting City Manager, as well as when the duties of the Acting City
Manager shall cease.
4. To amend Sec. 3.05, to add a new Sec. 4.01 (f) and to add a new
Sec. 4.01 (g) to provide that the City Council may by ordinance set a
maximum amount for which the City Manager shall be authorized to
execute contracts and to provide limited authority for the City
Manager to execute on behalf of the City certain standard form
documents.
5. To amend Sec. 8.08 to allow for the Mayor or City Manager to sign
checks and countersigned by an authorized designee.
6. To amend Sec. 8.10 to eliminate the requirement for publishing a
summary of the audit, to provide that a copy of the audit be placed
in the library, and to publish notice that a copy of the audit is
available to the public.
7. To amend Sec. 10.10 to provide that the City may contract with
another governmental entity to assess and collect City taxes.
Charter Review Commission
Official Report Continued
8. To repeal Sec. 10.08 regarding the Board of Equalization.
9. To repeal Sec. 11.09 regarding the regulation of utility and other
rates.
10. To add a new Article providing for police department disciplinary
procedures.
11. To add a new Section establishing the requirements to amend §
7.500 of the Code of Ordinances regarding police department
disciplinary procedures.
A "redlined" version of the recommended proposed amendments is
attached.
Dated this 24th day of July, 2003.
Respectfully submitted,
2003 R nd Rock Charter Review Commission
By: ert A. S uka, Jr., t Chairman
On behalf of the Commission Members:
Steve Laukhuf, Vice-Chairman
Karen Adair-Murphy
Cary Bovey
Jim Goodwin
Rufus Honeycutt, and
Scott Placek
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I.
AMENDING CITY MANAGER POWERS & DUTIES;
PROVIDING FOR ASSISTANT & ACTING CITY MANAGER
SECTION 3.05 MAYOR AND MAYOR PRO-TEM
The Mayor shall be the official head of the City government. The Mayor shall be the chairman of,
and shall preside at all meetings of the City Council. The Mayor shall vote on every proposition before
the City Council, but shall have no power to veto. The Mayor shall see that all ordinances, bylaws, and
resolutions of the City Council are faithfully obeyed and enforced. Except as pr ovided in Section 4.01,
tThe Mayor shall, when authorized by the City Council, sign all official documents such as ordinances,
resolutions, conveyances, grant agreements, official plats, contracts, and bonds. The Mayor shall appoint
special committees he or she deems advisable and as instr ucted by the City Counc il. The May or sha ll
perform such other duties cons istent with this Charter or as may be impose d upon him or her by the City
Council.
The Mayor Pr o-tem shall be a Council member elected by the City Council at the first regular City
Council meeting following each regular C ity election. The Mayor Pr o-tem shall act as Mayor dur ing the
disability or absence of the Mayor, and in this capacity shall have the rights conferred upon the Mayor.
SECTION 4.01 CITY MANAGER
(a)Appointment and Qualifications:
The City Council by majority vote of the entire City C ouncil shall appoint a City
Manager. The method of selection shall be left to the discretion of the City Council
so long as the method insures or derly, nonpartisan action towar d securing a
competent and qualified person to fill the position. The City Manager shall be
chosen solely upon the basis of such person’s executive and administrative tr aining,
experience and ability and need not when appointed be a resident of the City;
however, during the tenure of his or her office the City Manager shall reside
within the City. The City Manager shall be bonded at City expense in an amount
to be determined by the City Council of not less than ten thousand ($10,000)
dollars.
(b)Compensation:
The City M anager shall r eceive compensation as may be fixed by the City Council
according to his or her experience, education, and training. The compensation shall
be agreed upon befor e appointment with the understanding that the C ity Council
may change it at their discr etion.
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(c)Term and Removal:
The City M anager shall not be appointed for a definitive term but may be r emoved
at the discretion of the C ity Council, by vote of the majority of the entire City
Council. The action of the City C ouncil in suspending or r emoving the City
Manager shall be final. It is the intention of this Char ter to vest all author ity and
fix all responsibilities of such suspension or removal in the City Council.
(d)Powers and Duties:
The City Manager shall be the Chief Administrative Officer of the City, and shall
be responsible to the City C ouncil for the pr oper administration of all the affairs
of the City and to that end shall have the power and shall be r equired to:
(1)see that all state laws and City or dinances are effectively enforced;
(2)appoint, suspend or r emove all or any one of the director s of departments,
except as otherwise provided in this Charter;
(3)appoint, suspend or r emove such Assistant City M anagers as may be
deemed necessary by the City Council to assist the City Manager in
carr ying out the day to day management responsibilities;
(34)attend all meetings of the City Council except when excused by the City
Council, and shall have the right to take part in the discussions;
(45)prepare the budget annually and submit it to the City Council and be
responsible for its administr ation after its adoption;
(56)prepare and submit to the City C ouncil at the end of the fiscal year a
complete repor t on the finances and administrative activities of the Cit y for
the preceding year;
(67)keep the City C ouncil advised of the financial condition and future needs
of the City and make such r ecommendations as may seem advisable;
(78)make other such reports as the City Council may requir e concerning the
operations of City depar tments, offices and agencies subject to his or her
discretion and super vision; and
(89)perform such other duties as may be prescr ibed by this Char ter or r equired
by the City Council, as consistent with this Charter.
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(e)Assistant Acting City Manager:
The City M anager, within sixty (60) days after taking office, shall designate by
letter filed with the City Secretar y, a qualified administrative officer of the City to
perform the duties of the City M anager be the Acting City M anager in his or her
absence or disability. Such designation shall be subject to the prior approval of the
City Council. The Assistant Acting City M anager is author ized to perfor m the
same powers and duties as the City M anager while acting in the C ity Manager ’s
stead. No member of the City Council shall serve as Assistant Acting City
Manager. Fr om time to time the City Manager may remove and appoint another
Assistant Acting City Manager, also with the prior approval of the City Council.
The Acting City Manager shall perfor m the duties of the City Manager until the
City Manager retur ns or his or her disability shall cease or until the City Council
designates another per son to perform such duties.
(f)Contracts and Purchases:
The City C ouncil may by ordinance set a maximum amount for which the City
Manager shall be authorized to execute contracts and/or to expend funds for
budgeted items; pr ovided however, that all contracts and expenditures must comply
with state laws requir ing competitive bids. The Cit y Council may by or dinance
establish an amount above which all contracts or pur chases must be approved in
advance by the City C ouncil. All contracts and pur chases shall be handled in a
manner to obtain the best value for the City.
(g)Execution of Documents:
The City M anager shall have the authority to execute on behalf of the City,
standard form documents, including but not limited to deeds, releases of liens,
rental agreements, easements, right-of-way agr eements, joint use agreements, and
other similar documents, under the following conditions:
(i)The execution of the document is necessary to carr y out a public works
project; utilize, maintain or impr ove a City facility, street, right-of-way,
easement, park or other C ity proper ty, or to im plement other City policies;
provided that such project, progr am or policy has been approved by the
City Council;
(ii)That all blanks are filled in on any document corr ectly and that such
document is consistent with the objectives approved by the City Council;
and
(iii)That the for m of such document shall be approved by the Cit y Attorney.
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II.
CHECKS, ETC. COUNTERSIGNED BY DESIGNEE
SECTION 8.08 DEPOSITORY
All monies received by any person, department or agen cy of the City for or in connec tion with
affairs of the City shall be deposited promptly in the City depository or depositories, which shall be
designated by the City Council in accor dance with such regulations and subject to such requirements as
to security for deposits and interest thereon as may be established by ordinance. All checks, vouchers, or
warr ants for the withdrawal of money from the City depositories shall be signed by the Mayor and
countersigned by the City Manager or City Manager and countersigned by an authorized designee, as
approved by City Council ordinance. Pr ovided, that the City Council, under such regulations and
limitations as it may prescr ibe, may by ordinance authorized the use of machine-impr inted facsimile
signatures of said Mayor and City Manager and authorized designee on such checks, vouchers and
warr ants.
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III.
COPY OF AUDIT AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC
SECTION 8.10 INDEPENDENT AUDIT
At the close of each fiscal year, and at such other times as it may be deemed necessary, the
Council shall cause an independent audit to be made of all accounts of the City by a certified public
accountant. The certified public accountant so selected shall have no personal interest, directly or
indirectly, in the financial affairs of the City or any of its officers. Upon completion of the audit, the
summary thereof shall be published immediately in the official newspaper of the City and copies of the
audit a copy of the audited annual financial repor t shall be placed in the public library and placed on file
in the City Secretar y's office as public record. A notice shall be published in the official newspaper when
the aforesaid copies of the audited annual financial report ar e available to the public.
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IV.
CONTRACT WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY
TO COLLECT TAXES
SECTION 10.01 DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION
There shall be established a Department of Taxation to assess and collect taxes, the head of which
shall be the the Director of Finance. The Director of Finance shall give a surety bond for faithful
perfor mance of his or her duties, including compliance with all controlling provisions of the state law
bearing upon the functions of such office, in a sum which shall be fixed by the City Council at not less than
five thousand dollars ($5,000.00.) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the City Council may contract with an
outside agency or other gover nmental entity to assess and collect City taxes and to perform the duties of
the City’s Tax Assessor/Collector.
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V.
REPEAL BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
SECTION 10.08 BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
(a)Right to contract with other municipalities.
The City Council shall be empower ed to contrac t by ordinance or r esolution with any
other municipality or distr ict located entirely or partly within the cor pora te limits of the
City with regard to the mutual assessment, equalization, and collection of taxes. In the
event the City does enter into such a contrac t, the appointment procedur es and
qualifications for individuals so serving as City Tax Assessor/Collector and Board of
Equalization shall be negotiable and determined in accordance with the best interest of the
City at that time and shall be made a part of the con tract.
(b)Appointment and Qualifications.
In the event the City does not contract with another municipality or district for the mutual
assessment, equalization, and collection of taxes, then the following provisions shall apply.
(c)The Board of Equalization shall consist of three members who shall be registered voters
and real property owners in the City , none of whom shall be employees, officers, or
members of the City Council . The members of the Board of Equalization shall be
appointed by majority vote of the C ity Council and shall ser ve for two (2) year terms. The
appointments shall be made at the second r egular meeting of the City Council in May of
each year.
At the first meeting of the City Council held after the decision to act under Section
10.08(b) of this Char ter, the City Council shall appoint two members of the Board to serve
for two (2) years and one member to serve for one (1) year. However, such initial Board
appointments shall expire on the day of the second regular C ity Council meeting in May
of the appropriate year regardless of when made. T hereafter , all members shall be
appointed for two (2) year ter ms.
At the same meeting that the City Council appoints such Board, it shall fix the time and
place of the first meeting of such Board, which shall be not later than the first day of June.
The City Tax Assessor/Collector or such per son appointed by the City Manager shall act
as secr etary to said Board. A majority of said Board member s qualified and ser ving shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Members of said Board, while serving,
shall receive such compensation as may be provided by the City Council and shall perform
no other duties for the City. The Board of Equalization shall have such powers as
enumerated herein and such additional powers as may be prescribed by ordinance, and
statutes of the state of Texas as now or hereafter amended; and shall be governed by such
rules and regulations as may be prescr ibed by ordinance, but may adopt such further rules
and regulations of its own which are not in conflict with any City ordinance or law of the
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state of Texas.
(d)Powers and Duties.
The Board of Equalization shall have the power and it shall be its duty to:
(1)elect a Chairman from its membership who shall preside at all meetings of the
Board;
(2)adopt re gulations reg arding the proce dure of assessment r eview;
(3)after its first meeting, adjourn an d reco nvene as necessar y to perfor m its duties;
(4)review, on complaint of property owners, assessments made by the City Tax
Assessor/Collector for the purpose of taxation of both real and per sonal pr oper ty
within the City;
(5)hold hearings, administer oaths and take testimony;
(6)compel the production of all books, documents and other papers per tinent to the
investigation of taxable values of any person, firm or cor poration having or
owning prope rty within the cor pora te limits of the City subject to taxation and to
punish for contempt as provided by ordinance;
(7)corr ect any err ors that my appear on th e City Tax Assessor/Collector’s lists or
books;
(8)examine, and if necessary, revise the assessments as presented by the City Tax
Assessor/Collector to the end that all property within the City shall be assessed so
fairly and uniformly as possible;
(9)whenever the Board shall find it their duty to raise the value of a n y
prop erty appearing on the lists or books of the City Tax Assessor/Collector, it
shall, after having examined such lists and books and corrected all errors
appearing therein, adjourn to a day not less than ten (10) nor more than fifteen
(15) days from the date of adjournment and shall cause the Secretary of the Board
to give written notice to the owner of said property or to the person r endering
same, of the time to which the Board has adjourned and that such owner or
person, render ing said property may at any time appear and show cause why the
value of said pro perty sh ould not be raised . Such notice shall be served by
addressing same to such person’s last known address and depositing same, postage
paid, in the United States mail; and
(10)give notice of the date, time and place of all public meetings of the board at least
ten (10) days prior to such meeting(s) by advertising same in the official
newspaper of the City.
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(e)Records: Certification and Adoption.
The Board shall be r equire d to keep an accur ate rec ord of all its proceedings which sha ll
be available for public inspection. Immediately upon completion of its work the Board
shall certify its approval of the assessment rolls to be used for the collection of taxes for
the curr ent year. Should the City Council fail to certify and adopt the tax rolls at the City
Council meeting where such tax rolls are submitted, same shall be deemed to have been
finally certified and adopted by the City Council and same shall be and become the valid
tax rolls of the City. The City T ax Assessor /Collector shall thereaf ter caus e tax statements
to be mailed to each person, firm or cor poration named upon the tax rolls.
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VI.
REPEAL RATE JURISDICTION
SECTION 11.09 REGULATION OF RATES
The City Council shall have the power by ordinance to fix and regulate, after public hearing and
rea sonable notice as provided in Section 3.13 of this Charter, the price of water, gas, electric lights,
electric power an d steam heat, and to regulate and fix the fares, charges of all public transportation of
every kind, whether transpor ting passengers, freight or baggage, and generally to fix and regulate the rates
and charg es of all public utilities of every kind operating within the corpor ate limits of the City, including
any person, business or corpor ation providing cable television or community antenna television services.
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V.
ADDING POLICE DEPARTMENT DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES
ARTICLE 12
POLICE DEPARTMENT DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES
SECTION 12.01 PURPOSE
The purpose of this Article is to establish procedures for the appeal of certain disciplinary actions
for Officers (as defined below) of the Ro und Rock Polic e D epar tmen t. Th is Article is not applicable to the
Chief of P olice o r to emp loyee s of the Polic e D epar tmen t who ar e not swor n police officers or to police
officers who are in a probationary period.
SECTION 12.02 DEFINITIONS
(a)Chief. “Ch ief” mea ns the Ch ief of P olice o f the Ro und Rock Polic e D epar tmen t.
(b)Day. “Day” means a calendar day.
(c)Demotion. “Demotion” means a change in duty assignment of an O fficer fro m a p osition in
one pay grade to a position in a lower pay grade.
(d)Department. “De par tmen t” mea ns the City of Ro und Rock Polic e D epar tmen t.
(e)Disciplinary M atr ix. “Disciplinary M atrix” m eans the disciplinary matrix adopted,
maintained and am ended from time to time by the Ch ief.
(f)HR D irector. “HR D irector” means the City’s Dir ector of H uman Resour ces.
(g)Officer. “Officer” m eans a sworn police officer employed by the Department who has
served for one year following the successful completion of the Department’s field training
program.
(h)Probationary Officer. “Pr obationary Officer” means a sworn police officer employed by the
Department who has not completed the Department’s field training program or who has
served for less than one year following the successful completion of the D epar tmen t’s field
training program.
(i)Suspension. “Suspension” means a disciplinary action whereby an Office r is in volu ntar ily
relieved of duty for mor e than twenty-four hours without pay. Suspension, as used herein,
does not mean being re lieved of du ty for twen ty fou r h our s or less or being re lieved of du ty
without loss of pay.
(j)Term ination. “Ter mination” means a disciplinary action whereby an Office r is p er man ently
relieved of duty.
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SECTION 12.03 APPEALS TO A HEARING EXAMINER
(a)Notice of Appeal. If the Chief determines to impose a disciplinary action that includes
Suspension, Demotion, or Termination, and the Officer is not satisfied with such decision,
the Officer may elec t to appeal the d ecision to a H earin g Ex aminer . In order to exercise the
right of appeal, the Officer shall file with the Ch ief a wr itten notice of appeal on forms
provided by the City within three (3) calendar days of being notified of the Chief’s decision
to impose Suspension, D emotion, or Termination. The written notice of appeal shall not be
effective unless the Officer agrees to waive and release any and all rights the Officer might
have to appeal the Chief’s decision to a court of law.
(b)Selection of Hearing Examiner . Upon receipt of the w ritte n no tice of a ppea l, the C hief sh all
notify the HR Dir ector. The HR D irector and the Officer shall attempt to agree on the
selection of a Hearing Examiner on or before 10 days after the date the notice of appe al is
filed. If no agreement is reached within the specified time, The HR Dir ector shall request
a list of seven qualified neutral arbitrators from the American Arbitration Association or the
Feder al Mediation and Conciliation Service or their successors in function. The Officer and
the HR Director may agr ee on one of the seven arbitrators on the list. If they do not agree
within 25 days after the da te the notice of appeal was filed, the Officer and the HR Director
shall on the 25th day after the appeal was filed alternate striking a name from the list and the
name remaining is the Hearing Examiner. In the event that the 25th day fa lls on a Saturday,
Sunday, or a legal holiday, then the parties shall strike the list on the next work day. The
parties shall ag re e on a date fo r th e hea rin g that is within the time p er iod p re scr ibed in
paragraph (c) below.
(c)Hearing Exa miner ’s Jur isdictio n and Auth or ity. The Hear ing Examiner has jurisdiction to
hear appeals from a decision of the Chief to Suspend, Demote or Terminate an Officer.
Upon cons ider ation o f the tes timon y, evid ence, arguments, and briefs, the Hear ing Examiner
may affirm, modify, or reverse the decision of the Chief. If the Hearing Examiner
determines to modify the decision, the Hearing Examiner’s authority to so modify is limited
to the level of discipline outlined in the Disciplinary M atrix.
(d)Appeal Hearing. The appe al hea rin g sha ll begin as soo n as p ossib le, but in a ny ev ent w ithin
60 days after the da te the a ppea l is filed. If the he ar ing is not begun within 60 days after the
date the appeal is filed, the Suspension, D emotion or Termination is upheld and the appeal
is withdrawn if the Officer is not ready to proceed and the appeal is sustained if the Chief
is not re ady to pr oceed. In computing the 60-day period, a period of delay not to exceed 30
calendar days bec ause of a continuance granted at the request of the Chief or the Officer on
good cause being shown, or because of the unavoidable unavailability of the Hearing
Examiner on the date of the hearing. In no event may a H ear ing E xam iner gr ant a
continuance of more than 30 days in a hearing involving Termination. A Hearing Exam iner
may grant a continuance beyond the 30-day period upon good cause being shown in a
hearing involving Suspension or Dem otion unless the Officer has another disciplinary action
pending.
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(e)Subpoenas. The H earing E xaminer shall have the powe r to issue subpoenas.
(d)Expedited Procedure. The parties may agree to an expedited hearing procedure. Unless
otherwise agreed by the parties, in an expedited procedure the Hearing Examiner shall
render a decision on the appeal within 10 days after the date the hearing closed.
(f)Non-expedited Procedure. In an a ppea l that do es no t involv e an e xped ited he ar ing
procedure, the H ear ing E xam iner shall m ake a re ason able e ffor t to render a decision on the
appeal within 30 days after the date the hearing ends or the briefs are filed. T he Hearing
Exa miner ’s inability to meet the time requirements imposed by this paragraph does not affect
the H ear ing E xam iner ’s jur isdictio n, the va lidity of the disciplinary action, or the Hearing
Examiner’s final decision.
(g)Final Decision. The Hea ring Exa miner ’s decision is final an d bin ding on all parties. No
par ty shall have the right to appeal a H ear ing E xam iner ’s dec ision e xcep t as pr ovid ed in
paragraph (i) below.
(h)Fees and Expenses. The Hear ing Examiner’s fees and expenses are shared equally by the
Officer and the City. The costs of a witness are paid by the par ty who calls the witness.
(i)District Court Appeal. A district cou rt ma y hear an appe al of a Hearing Examiner’s award
only on the gr oun ds tha t the H ear ing E xam iner was w ithou t jur isdictio n or exce eded its
jurisdiction or that the order was procu red by fr aud, collusion, or other unlawful means. If
the basis for the appeal of the Hear ing Examiner ’s award is based on the grounds that the
Hearing Examiner was without jurisdiction or exceeded its jurisdiction, the petition must be
filed in district court within 10 days of the H earin g Ex aminer ’s decision. An appeal must be
broug ht in a district court in Williamson County, Texas.
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VI.
ADDING REQUIREMENTS FOR AMENDMENTS TO § 7.500 OF THE
CODE OF ORDINANCES REGARDING POLICE DEPAR TMENT
DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES
SECTION 12.04 AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 7.500, CODE OF O RDINANCES, POLICE
DEPARTMENT DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE
Any ordinance which amends Section 7.500, Code of Ordinances, Police Department Disciplinary
Procedur e shall not be finally passed until all of the following have occurred:
(a)Notice of the proposed amendment shall be posted on the official Police De par tmen t bulletin
board for at least fourteen (14) days prior to the first public hearing to be held on the
proposed amendment. The notice shall also include the date, time, and place of the first
public hearing required below.
(b)At least two public hearings on the proposed amendment shall b e held by the City Co uncil
at re gular Co uncil meetings. The first reading of the ordinance shall not occur at the same
meeting as the first public hearing. The second public hearing may be held at the same
meeting as the first reading of the ordinance.
(c)The ordinance must be read at two separate regular meetings of the C ity C oun cil. Th e C ity
Council may not dispense with the second reading of the ordinance.
S) H J 3
Notes from Jim Goodwin concerning 2003 Charter Article 12
adoption recommendation
The City Charter is a legal document that defines and authorizes the way our
City operates and governs its people
The Charter needs to be rigid enough to provide long and near term
community stability irregardless of the present political environment.
At the same time it needs to be flexible enough to allow for cultural,
infrastructural and regulatory changes through time.
It is for this reason that I feel in almost all circumstances — Human Resource
policy should be crated, addressed and abridged sole through the direction of
the City Manager and the council. ---Not the charter.
However: The HR protection required for commissioned Round Rock police
officers to carry out his or her duties is singularly unique.
They deserve the expectation that when they make the instantaneous
decisions necessary to protect the community—they do so, free from the
worry of being sometimes unjustly second guessed and loosing their careers
due to political or media pressures.
As the city continues to grow and our police force expands the likelihood of
our police officers being unjustly second guessed increases.
Consequently, it seems reasonable that commissioned police officers be
granted the right to appeal certain disciplinary actions to a third party
hearing examiner and that this right be protected by the city charter.
Because of the unique job requirements that our police perform I do not see
how this will in the future create a precedent for our charter becoming an
extension of our HR policies and procedures manual.
For those reasons I would like to move that we reconsider adopting Article
12.