(a) Before a law enforcement agency may appoint a person licensed or seeking a license as a peace officer, county jailer, or telecommunicator the agency head or designee must:
  (1) obtain the person's written consent for the agency to view the person's employment records;
  (2) obtain a copy of the Personal Status Report (PSR) maintained by the commission;
  (3) obtain a completed, signed, and notarized Personal History Statement (PHS);
  (4) obtain a Computerized Criminal History (CCH) from TCIC and NCIC;
  (5) obtain proof of eligibility after separation from the military, if applicable;
  (6) conduct and document a background investigation;
  (7) for peace officers, obtain proof of weapons qualification within the 12 months preceding appointment;
  (8) for current licensees, electronically request and obtain the F-5 Return (F5R) from the commission, contact each of the person's previous law enforcement employers, and document the contact on the F5 return; and
  (9) in addition to the requirements listed in this section:
    (A) For a licensee with more than 180 days since their last appointment:
      (i) obtain a new declaration of psychological and emotional health (L3 Form);
      (ii) obtain a new declaration of the lack of any drug dependency or illegal drug use (L2 Form); and
      (iii) obtain new proof that the licensee has been fingerprinted and subjected to a search of local, state and U.S. national records and fingerprint files to disclose any criminal record.
    (B) For a person's initial appointment:
      (i) obtain proof of meeting educational requirements;
      (ii) obtain proof of meeting U.S. citizenship requirements;
      (iii) obtain new proof that the person has been fingerprinted and subjected to a search of local, state and U.S. national records and fingerprint files to disclose any criminal record;
      (iv) obtain a new declaration of psychological and emotional health (L3 Form), if more than 180 days from the graduation of the basic licensing course;
      (v) obtain a new declaration of medical eligibility and lack of any drug dependency or illegal drug use (L2 Form), if more than 180 days from the graduation of the basic licensing course; and
      (vi) submit an appointment application (L1 Form) and receive an approval of the application before the person discharges any duties related to the license sought.
  (10) For current licensees, submit a Statement of Appointment (L1 Form) within 7 days of the appointment.
(b) When a person licensed by the commission separates from an agency, the agency shall, within 7 business days:
  (1) submit a Separation report (Form F5) to the commission; and
  (2) provide a copy to the licensee in a manner prescribed by Texas Occupations Code section 1701.452.
(c) A law enforcement agency that is given a signed consent form shall make the person's employment records available to a hiring law enforcement agency as authorized by Texas Occupations Code section 1701.451.
(d) An agency must retain records kept under this section while the person is appointed and for a minimum of five years after the licensee's separation date with that agency. The records must be maintained under the control of the agency head or designee in a format readily accessible to the commission.
(e) The effective date of this section is February 1, 2020.

Source Note: The provisions of this §217.7 adopted to be effective April 6, 2017, 42 TexReg 1777; amended to be effective May 1, 2018, 43 TexReg 1879; amended to be effective February 5, 2020, 45 TexReg 768