🟡Relating to compensation and leave for certain peace officers.

🟡 SB 1321: Premium pay and injury leave for TCOLE commissioned investigators

What it says it does:
Improve recruitment and retention at the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement by moving its commissioned investigators to the state’s premium law enforcement pay scale, add hazardous duty pay, and ensure injury leave for line of duty injuries.

What it actually changes:
Adds TCOLE commissioned officers to hazardous duty pay, guarantees injury leave for on the job injuries, and requires that TCOLE commissioned investigators be paid on Schedule C. It also directs a temporary classification step by the State Auditor for the 2026 to 2027 budget window. The Schedule C tie in code continues after that unless changed. Effective date is September 1, 2025.

Who is pushing for it:
Law enforcement associations and unions listed in the committee record, including statewide and big city groups. TCOLE benefits as the implementing agency. Specific party and district details for the author are Not in files.

Who benefits:
A small cohort of TCOLE commissioned investigators and supervisors who gain higher base pay, hazardous duty pay, and clearer injury leave. The broader law enforcement ecosystem gains a new benchmark that can support parity arguments.

Who gets left out or exposed:
City police, sheriff’s offices, and non commissioned TCOLE staff are not covered. Other state priorities may face incremental budget pressure if similar parity requests expand.

Why this matters long term:
The pay mandate for investigators lives in statute, funding is set session by session. That creates a durable obligation and a precedent. Other specialized units can point to this as a model, small costs can add up across sessions. Transparency and performance tracking will matter to show the public value.

What to watch next:
Which job titles are formally eligible for Schedule C, whether headcount on that scale can grow without a direct vote, and whether TCOLE reports vacancy, hiring time, turnover, caseload, case closure, hazardous duty stipends, and injury leave usage so lawmakers and the public can see results.

Bottom line:
This is a focused workforce bill with modest cost but a permanent pay tie for a small investigative unit. Keep the benefits, add guardrails and reporting, make sure a narrow fix does not quietly become an open ended precedent.

Questions to ask lawmakers:

1. What specific results will TCOLE publish each year to prove this pay shift is cutting vacancies and closing more cases?
2. Which job titles are eligible for Schedule C and will headcount on that scale be capped without a direct vote?
3. If other units seek the same treatment, will you require an outcomes and cost analysis before expanding Schedule C in statute?

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