(a) The Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee is created as provided in Texas Government Code, §411.0197.
(b) The purpose of the Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee is to document to the Public Safety Commission trade-related incidents involving department personnel; to develop recommendations and strategies to improve community relations, department personnel conduct, and the truck inspection process at the ports-of-entry on the Texas-Mexico border; and to act as ombudsman between the department and the residents and communities in the Texas-Mexico border area and between the department and the department's personnel.
(c) The Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee shall consist of nine members that are appointed by the Public Safety Commission. The Public Safety Commission shall designate the presiding officer of the committee from among the committee's members. Five members of the committee constitute a quorum sufficient to conduct the meetings and business of the committee.
  (1) Members of the Advisory Community Outreach Committee will serve staggered terms as follows:
    (A) the presiding officer shall serve a three-year term;
    (B) four of the committee members shall serve a three-year term; and
    (C) four of the committee members shall serve a two-year term.
  (2) All committee members serve at the will of the Public Safety Commission and may be reappointed by the Public Safety Commission. If a committee member resigns, becomes incapacitated, or is removed by the Public Safety Commission, or otherwise vacates his or her position prior to the end of his or her term, then the Public Safety Commission shall appoint a replacement who shall serve the remainder of the unexpired term. Except as otherwise provided by law, if a member of the Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee misses three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings, that member automatically vacates his or her position on the committee.
(d) The Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee shall meet at least on a quarterly basis or at the call of the presiding officer or any two members. The location of any meeting of the committee will be determined by the presiding officer. All meetings of the Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee shall be open to the public.
(e) The Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee may elect an assistant presiding officer from among its members.
(f) The presiding officer or the assistant presiding officer shall prepare a meeting agenda for each meeting of the Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee. A copy of the agenda shall be provided to the department fifteen working days before any scheduled meeting so that the department can arrange for the necessary staff to be in attendance and provide notification to the committee members and the public.
(g) The presiding officer or the assistant presiding officer of the Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee shall ensure that the minutes of each meeting of the committee are recorded and that a record of attendance for each meeting of the committee shall be made. The department shall have the necessary staff present at each committee meeting to assist with the recording of the meeting minutes, preparation of the attendance record, and to provide information concerning any department operation under lawful consideration by the committee. The department shall prepare and distribute copies of the minutes, attendance record, any other committee documents, or committee recommendations to each committee member after each meeting. The presiding officer or the assistant presiding officer shall present the minutes, attendance record, any other committee documents, and committee recommendations to the Public Safety Commission at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Public Safety Commission that follows any meeting of the Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee. All documents submitted to the Public Safety Commission shall be of sufficient detail to allow the Public Safety Commission to properly evaluate the committee's work in accordance with Texas Government Code, §411.0197(e).
(h) Recommendations and advice given by the Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee are not binding on the Public Safety Commission. The Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee has no executive or administrative powers or duties with respect to the operation of the department, and all such powers and duties rest solely with the Public Safety Commission.
(i) Members of the Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee are not entitled to compensation for their service nor reimbursement of the member's travel expenses.
(j) As provided in Government Code, §2110.006, by January 1 of each year, department staff, in consultation with the presiding officer, shall evaluate the previous fiscal year and report to the Public Safety Commission, on:
  (1) the committee's work;
  (2) the committee's usefulness; and
  (3) the costs related to the committee's existence, including the cost of the department's staff time spent in support of the committee's activities.
(k) As provided in Government Code, §2110.008, the Advisory Oversight Community Outreach Committee is abolished on January 1, 2011, unless the Public Safety Commission establishes a different date by rule.

Source Note: The provisions of this §4.71 adopted to be effective January 30, 2007, 32 TexReg 333