By Jeff Case
DA Investigator in Wilbarger County
This article will attempt to shed light on three issues going on with TCOLE (the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement) that affect county attorney and district attorney’s offices.
They are:
1) new law enforcement (LE) hires,
2) Target 100 (training) initiative, and
3) policies now required by TCOLE
New hires
First, thanks to the new SB 22 funding from the state, prosecutor offices across Texas are looking to increase office staffing, including possible new investigator positions. There are certain steps that are required when hiring new commissioned peace officers, which I won’t go into in this article, but find a guide at www.tcole.texas.gov/document/law-enforcement-agency-audit-checklist.pdf. It will walk you through the step-by-step process in hiring newly commissioned LE staff.
Target 100 initiative
Secondly, TCOLE has started a training initiative for all licensed officers entitled the Target 100 initiative.[1] The purpose is to have 100 percent of licensees in compliance with training requirements at the end of each continuing education cycle. Some of you may have already received a letter or email from TCOLE to inform you of any current staff with outstanding training requirements. (I got one!) The current training cycle ends August 31, 2025, and failure to complete training by that date may result in TCOLE suspending your license for at least 90 days. Officers can log into their “My TCOLE” accounts and find which classes they may still need to take. (For me it was the Law Update. Got it done!)
New required policies
Lastly, and perhaps the most bothersome thing in my opinion, is that TCOLE is now requiring each agency that employs licensed commissioned officers to submit a list of policies. These mandatory policies include those on misconduct allegations,[2] personnel files,[3] and hiring procedures.[4] TCOLE field service agents will provide sample model policies for you to review if needed; the footnotes also contain links to TCOLE sample policies. These were to be adopted and submitted to your field agent by June 1; because this date has already passed, submit policies as soon as you adopt them.
The TCOLE website states that their purpose is to create a web-based confidential database that can be shared with other agencies looking to hire new officers who may have been accused of misconduct. TCOLE’s requirements for offices’ personnel files also requires that a license holder’s file contain any commendations, congratulations, and honors, as well as any misconduct that resulted in disciplinary actions and periodic evaluations by a supervisor. According to TCOLE, these files (upon completion of a release of information by the license holder) may be shared with any prospective law enforcement employer looking to hire a licensee.
In September 2024, TCOLE required that all agencies submit a host of different policies on the following topics:
• medical and psychological examinations of licensees[5]
• pursuit (even though your office may not even be involved in traffic enforcement, I was told the policy is mandatory)
• use of force
• professional conduct of officers
• domestic abuse protocols
• response to missing persons
• supervision of part-time officers and
• impartial policing.[6]
Whew! Oh, and after all that make sure you have an office organizational chart, staffing projections, and a list of any school resource officers you may employ.
But wait—there’s more! Any agency, including county or district attorney’s offices, that was established before June 1, 2024 (which means all of us) must establish that we are a benefit to the community. We must also have sustainable funding sources that meet or exceed the continued operating expenses outlined in a line-item budget.
Required equipment
Now let’s look at the physical resources and equipment each agency, including CA’s and DA’s offices, must make available to their licensed peace officer employees. The list includes:[7]
• at least one firearm per officer (most investigators, including me, like to carry our own firearm, but an agency must make a firearm available if the officer doesn’t already have one),
• at least one less-lethal force option (pepper spray for me, please!),
• a bullet-resistant vest that is NIJ (National Institute of Justice)-compliant, within warranty, and never been compromised (no pre-shot vests, please!),
• a radio communication device,
• at least one cell phone per officer, and
• a uniform for any officers who conduct patrol or security duties or service of civil process (guess what? That’s us!).
Finally, any agency established after June 1, 2024, must provide at least one agency-owned and -insured motor vehicle. Agencies established before that date may use personally owned patrol vehicles if they have not provided agency-owned vehicles since that date. (Is anyone using their personal vehicles? Is that a thing?)
Requirements regarding facilities
Now let’s get into the actual office facilities. If your department is involved in criminal investigations (which we are), then we must have an evidence storage room or other secure storage facility for any evidence collected. Also, if your offices are public (which we are), then we must provide signs outside that say how to receive immediate assistance in an emergency; how to make a non-emergency report of a crime; and (here we go) how to make a complaint about a member of the agency via mail, online, or by phone.[8] And just a reminder: TCOLE may take action against agencies that fail to meet these standards, including denial of applications for new agencies or other actions as authorized by law. I am unsure what this means other than suspending licensees.
In addition to all of this, we are still required to file racial profiling reports[9] or exemptions annually.
I write all of this to be informative and to vent a little bit honestly, but I will also say that our local TCOLE field service agent has been great in ensuring that all local agencies and our office have policies in place well before any deadlines. Our local agent provided our office with the link to the sample policies and updated us on the due date for adoption. These were super-easy to adapt as our own. I am assured that all the agents will be just as helpful to you all.[10]
In the end I remind myself that as law enforcement officers in the greatest state of the United States, we are all held to a higher standard and simply want to comply in whatever way the state deems necessary.[11]
[1] www.tcole.texas.gov/target-100.
[2] www.tcole.texas.gov/reporting-misconduct-allegations-faq; here is a sample policy: www.tcole.texas.gov/document/mp-ma.pdf.
[3] TCOLE’s sample policy on personnel files: www.tcole.texas.gov/document/mp-pf.pdf.
[4] TCOLE’s sample policy on hiring procedures: www.tcole.texas.gov/document/mp-hp.pdf.
[5] TCOLE’s sample policy on medical and psychological examination of a licensee: www.tcole.texas.gov/ document/mp-mpel.pdf.
[6] TCOLE does not provide model policies for many of these topics, but the author is happy to share those adopted by his office to anyone who would email him such a request. He’s at [email protected].
[7] www.tcole.texas.gov/document/adopted-rule-21116-amended.pdf.
[8] www.tcole.texas.gov/content/complaint-procedures.
[9] www.tcole.texas.gov/content/racial-profiling-reports.
[10] Here is a link to the list of field service agents: www.tcole.texas.gov/search?s=field+service+agents.
[11] Here are two more hyperlinks that might be helpful: www.tcole.texas.gov/document/proposed-rule-211-16-establishment-or-continued-operation-appointing-entity.pdf and www.tcole.texas.gov/content/forms-and-applications.