Civil Service Commission Minutes - 11/02/2009MINUTES OF THE FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS'
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
November 2, 2009
Present:
Dr. Floyd Thornton
Penny Miller
Tammy Guerra, Civil Service Director
Julia Vasquez, First Asst. City Attorney
Dennis Bachman, Police Chief
Gerald Todd, Deputy Police Chief
Earl Foster, Fire Chief
Linda Merrill, Recording Secretary
Dave Goodrich, Human Resources
Chris Foster
Jerad Miller
John Spragins
Leland Wright
Viroj Deejai
Karl Lillie
1. CALL TO ORDER
Commission Members
City Staff
Civil Service Members
The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Thornton at 2:00 p.m.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (OCTOBER 23, 2009)
Commissioner Miller moved, seconded by Commissioner Thornton, that the
October 23, 2009, minutes be approved. The motion unanimously carried.
3. REVIEW APPEALS OF PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATION FOR THE POLICE SERGEANT
EXAMINATION BY VARIOUS POLICE OFFICERS, PURSUANT TO SECTION 143.034 OF THE
TEXAS LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE AND RELATED CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION RULES
The Commission heard the appeals of a question on the Police Sergeant
examination. The three possible actions to be taken regarding the challenged
examination question are: 1) sustain the answer key, 2) overrule the answer key, or 3)
eliminate the test question.
C, 10 T Y G L E R i`,'S OFFICE
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Date I I I I
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Civil Service Commission Minutes November 2, 2009
APPEAL 1
Question 25
Complaint: Answers B and D should be accepted as correct, along with the
correct answer C, as both are partial answers to the question.
Civil Service Director's Recommendation: Two officers appeal this question. Both
officers acknowledge that C is the correct answer, but argue their respective answers of
B and D should also be accepted as correct. The answer key should be sustained, as
answer C is the most complete answer, and is taken from the source material.
Comments: Officer Jerad Miller said the answer to the question is not taken
verbatim from the source material, but instead was tweaked slightly (the CODE OF
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE 23.011 refers to bringing the "arrested person before the court,"
while the test question refers to bringing "him" before that court of law). That change,
admittedly, does not change the content of the answer, but answer D also includes
"bring[ing] him before that court of law." That answer is partially correct, and since both
C and D were paraphrased, it is hard to say which should be the correct answer. He
feels there is more than one correct answer to this question, and asked the Commission
to overrule the answer key and accept both C and D as correct answers.
Chris Foster opined that answer B should be accepted as correct, along with
answer C. The question could have been better phrased; it should have been written as
" Capias is defined as...," rather than "A Capias is... ". Answer B is a summary of, and as
equally correct as, answer C. The fact that the top three raw scorers missed this
question lends credence to his assertion that the question should be rephrased.
Officer Foster included on a handout references to Articles 15.17 and 15.22 of
the CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (CCP), to illustrate the definition of arrest. Article
15.22 of the CCP includes the definition of an arrese, which is based upon the
requirements of Article 15.173. Based upon these facts, he believes the question was
not phrased correctly, and requests the Commission to retain the question, and allow
answer B to also be a correct response.
Art. 23.01. DEFINITION OF A "CAPIAS." In this chapter, a "capias" is a writ that is:
(1) issued by ajudge of the court having jurisdiction of a case after commitment or bail and before trial, or by a clerk at the
direction of the judge; and
(2) directed "To any peace officer of the State of Texas ", commanding the officer to arrest a person accused of an offense
and bring the arrested person before that court immediately or on a day or at a term stated in the writ.
2 Art. 15.22. WHEN A PERSON IS ARRESTED. A person is arrested when he has been actually placed under restraint or
taken into custody by an officer or person executing a warrant of arrest, or by an officer or person arresting without a
warrant.
3 Art. 15.17. DUTIES OF ARRESTING OFFICER AND MAGISTRATE. (a) In each case enumerated in this Code, the
person making the arrest or the person having custody of the person arrested shall without unnecessary delay, but not later
than 48 hours after the person is arrested, take the person arrested or have him taken before some magistrate of the county
where the accused was arrested, ... .
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Civil Service Commission Minutes November 2, 2009 3
John Spragins said he also missed the question. In his experience in reading the
books and in law enforcement, the Legislature writes laws in specific ways for a reason.
If the Legislators felt it necessary to refer back to the definition of arrest to complete the
definition of capias, they would have so stated. The most correct answer is C, and the
question should be sustained.
Ms. Guerra read from page 286 of the TEXAS CRIMINAL TRAFFIC LAW MANUAL, the
source material for the question. It is written relatively the same as answer C, except
that "a person" was referenced in the answer as "him." For this reason, she
recommends that the Commission sustain the answer key.
Viroj Deejai addressed the Commission, noting that he correctly answered the
question. The question was looking for a definition of capias. If the question had been,
is a capias equal to a warrant, it would have been different. But in this case, answer C is
the most correct response. Answer B is incomplete. The answer key should be upheld.
Chris Foster reiterated that the question did not state that "capias is defined as."
It simply said, "a capias is a writ." The Legislature may have intended one thing, but the
end product may be something else entirely. He provided evidence in the study source
material. He is not making assumptions on the Legislature's intent. Officers must abide
by the general requirements of the CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE unless contradicted
by local rules or case law.
Commission's Action: Commissioner Miller moved that the answer key be
sustained. Seconded by Commissioner Thornton, the motion carried.
APPEAL 2
Ms. Guerra stated this appeal was filed to contest the fact that Sgt. Spragins was
allowed to take the examination. Sgt. Spragins was temporarily appointed to the rank of
Police Sergeant4. Ms. Vasquez observed that the individual who filed the appeal is not
present at the meeting; therefore, the Commission is not required to hear the appeal.
However, so that there are no questions later, she advised the Commission to make a
ruling on the appeal. Ms. Guerra said it is her recommendation that the Commission
uphold the test as administered in compliance with Chapter 143.
Commissioner Thornton asked for comments from the floor. There being none,
Commissioner Miller moved that the Commission act in accordance with the Civil
Service Director's recommendation to uphold the test. Seconded by Commissioner
Thornton, the motion carried.
4 Police Chief Bachman made this temporary appointment to fill the duties of a higher position due to the vacancy caused by
the extended military leave of Police Captain Manuel Borrego.
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Civil Service Commission Minutes November 2, 2009 4
4. REPORT FROM FIRE CHIEF
Chief Foster expressed his regret that a recent firefighter graduate resigned his
position this week, stating the work simply wasn't for him. The Fire Captain examination
is this Friday. There are two vacant captain positions. Once this test is complete, the
Department will have a current eligibility list for all four promotional examinations.
5. REPORT FROM POLICE CHIEF
Chief Bachman said that things are still as reported by Deputy Chief Drury at the
Commission's October 23, 2009 meeting. The Department still has seven vacancies,
and applications are being accepted for the upcoming Academy.
6. ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m.
WIN, I -PWffFA)A - M*
Penny Miller, Commissioner
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