Texas Attorney General Opinion: KP-0044 Page: 2 of 4
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The Honorable Carol Alvarado - Page 2
Courts construe a statute in the context of the statutory scheme as a whole. Tex. Dep't of
Transp. v. City of Sunset Valley, 146 S.W.3d 637, 642 (Tex. 2004). Thus, we review chapter 142,
subchapter B and its election provisions. Subchapter B allows certain municipalities to decide
whether to recognize an association as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent of covered
municipal police officers for negotiating certain terms and conditions of employment under a
"meet and confer" agreement. See TEX. Loc. Gov'T CODE 142.051-.068 (subchapter B).
Under the subchapter, some issues may be decided by an election by the voting public of the
municipality (a "municipal election") and some issues may be decided by an election by the
affected police officers themselves, as discussed below. Initially, a particular association may seek
recognition as the "sole and exclusive" municipal police officer bargaining agent by presenting the
municipality with a petition signed by the majority of all of the police officers, excluding certain
employees. Id. 142.053(a). A municipal governing body receiving such a petition for
recognition has three options. First, the governing body may grant recognition as its own decision,
without calling for any election. Id. 142.053(a)(1). Second, the governing body may defer
recognition and call for a municipal election, so that the voting public may decide whether the
municipality may meet and confer under subchapter B. Id. 142.053(a)(2), .055(a)-(c)
(providing for a municipal meet-and-confer election). Third, a governing body receiving such a
petition may order a police officer election, referred to in the statute as a certification election, to
determine whether the association represents a majority of the affected police officers. Id.
142.053(a)(3), .054. The election may be held by agreement of the parties or may be conducted
by the American Arbitration Association, with election costs to be borne by "the associations
named in any petition." Id. 142.054(a), (b), (d). If the association named in the petition receives
a majority of the officers' votes, the governing body must either recognize the association as the
sole and exclusive representative or call for a municipal election to decide whether the municipality
may meet and confer under the subchapter. Id. 142.053(b)(1), (2), .055.
Although a certification election "resolves the question concerning representation," id.
142.054(c), police officers may seek to change the recognition of an association by filing "a
petition signed by a majority of all covered officers." Id. 142.056(a). In response to a petition
for change, the governing body may either recognize the change or order a certification election
to be held under section 142.054. Id. 142.056(b)(1)-(2). Neither section 142.056 nor any other
provision in subchapter B, however, suggests that a certification election precludes subsequent
petitions for change or limits the number of certification elections that may be conducted within a
given period of time. Id. 142.051-.068.
By contrast, several provisions in subchapter B state that a public municipal election may
bar subsequent elections or petitions for a period of time. Section 142.055 provides that whenever
a municipal election has been held under the subchapter, no association may submit a subsequent
petition for recognition "before the second anniversary of the date of the election." Id.
142.055(f). Another provision states that when a governing body has granted recognition after
a municipal election, the governing body must wait two years before it may order an election to
repeal meet-and-confer authorization. Id. 142.065(b). That provision states further that, when a
municipal election to repeal meet-and-confer authority has been held, no association may submit
another petition seeking recognition for two years after the election. Id. 142.065(g). These
provisions demonstrate that the Legislature knows how to give an election preclusive effect if it
so chooses. "When the Legislature includes a right or remedy in one part of a code but omits it in(KP-0044)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: KP-0044, text, December 4, 2015; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1051006/m1/2/: accessed July 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.