Chapter 143: Texas Civil Service for Police and Firefighters

Chapter 143 of the Texas Local Government Code is the civil service system for police officers and firefighters in Texas cities that have adopted it. It replaces political hiring and discipline with written exams, defined promotion ladders, listed grounds for discipline, and a formal appeals process. The chapter applies only to municipalities with at least 10,000 residents that run paid fire or police departments and whose voters have voted it in, and within those cities it controls almost every employment decision from the first day on an eligibility list to the last day before retirement.

Which Cities Chapter 143 Covers

Coverage is not automatic. A Texas city qualifies only if it has a population of 10,000 or more, measured by the most recent federal census or the state demographer’s annual estimate, whichever is newer, and operates a paid fire or police department.¹ Even then, voters have to approve adoption at an election. The ballot can cover both departments or be limited to just the fire department or just the police department.²

Once validly adopted, the chapter keeps applying even if the city’s population later drops below 10,000.¹ If you work for a department in a smaller Texas city or a department that has never held an adoption election, Chapter 143 does not govern your employment, and the protections below do not apply to you.

The Civil Service Commission

Each adopting city must set up a Fire Fighters’ and Police Officers’ Civil Service Commission. The mayor or chief executive appoints three commissioners within 60 days of the adoption election, subject to confirmation by the governing body, and the commission must be fully operational by the first full fiscal year after adoption.³ Commissioners serve staggered three-year terms.

The commission’s job is to run every personnel action the chapter governs: approving eligibility lists, certifying exam results, hearing disciplinary appeals, and adopting civil service rules that fill in the statutory gaps. It is the referee between the department head’s authority and the employee’s civil service rights.

Getting Hired: Entrance Exams and the Rule of Three

Every beginning position in a covered department has to be filled from an eligibility list built by a competitive entrance exam. The commission runs the exam, and it must be open, free of charge, and taken in the presence of at least one other applicant. The exam tests general knowledge, aptitude, education, and mental ability rather than specialized technical skills, and the minimum passing score is 70 percent.⁴

Candidates who pass are ranked by score. When a vacancy opens, the department head picks from the top three names on the list. This “rule of three” gives the chief some discretion while keeping lower-scoring applicants from leapfrogging the top of the list.⁵

Medical and psychological evaluations happen after a conditional offer. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a department cannot require a medical exam until it has extended a conditional offer of employment. Physical fitness tests measuring running, lifting, or other performance tasks can happen before an offer; anything that probes medical conditions has to wait.⁶

Federal age-discrimination law has a public safety exception. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act lets state and local governments set maximum hiring ages and mandatory retirement ages for firefighters and law enforcement officers, as long as the policy follows a bona fide plan and is not a pretext for discrimination.⁷ Local collective bargaining agreements in Texas sometimes modify the default limits, so the specific cap varies from one city to the next.

Promotions by Written Exam

Advancement runs on written tests, not supervisor preference. Promotional exams must be entirely in writing with no oral interview component, and the questions have to come from the duties of the higher position and from study materials the department has made reasonably available to all eligible candidates.⁸

To sit for a promotional exam, you generally need two continuous years in the rank just below the vacancy. If there aren’t enough eligible candidates with two years in grade, the commission can open the exam to officers with less time or to those two ranks below.⁹ Seniority points are added to raw exam scores based on years of service, and the resulting ranked list drives promotions as vacancies open.

If you think an exam question was flawed or your score was miscalculated, you can challenge the results through a review process the commission administers. The statute gives a defined window for these challenges, and the commission has to resolve them before finalizing the eligibility list.¹⁰

What You Can Be Disciplined For

A department head cannot discipline a Chapter 143 employee for just any reason. Commission rules must limit removal or suspension to the categories listed in the statute:

Conviction of a felony or another crime involving moral turpitude.
Incompetency, neglect of duty, shirking duty, or cowardice at fires.
Discourtesy to the public or coworkers while on duty, conduct prejudicial to good order, or lack of good moral character.
Drinking while on duty or intoxication while off duty.
Absence without leave, refusal to pay just debts, violation of a charter provision, or violation of a departmental rule or special order.

If a proposed basis for discipline doesn’t fall into one of these categories, the commission rule authorizing it is invalid.¹¹ A lot of discipline falls apart here. A suspension built on vague “performance” grounds that don’t map to a statutory category sits on a foundation the commission can knock down.

How Discipline Actually Works

A disciplinary suspension can last up to 15 calendar days or be indefinite. An indefinite suspension is the statute’s term for termination; the employee is effectively fired.¹²

Within 120 hours of the suspension, the department head must file a written statement with the commission and deliver a copy to the employee in person. The statement has to identify the specific civil service rules allegedly violated and describe the actual conduct at issue. A rule number is not enough. If the statement fails to spell out what the employee actually did, the commission must promptly reinstate the employee.¹²

The 180-Day Limitation

The chapter imposes a 180-day lookback that works differently depending on the nature of the alleged misconduct. For non-criminal violations, the department head cannot base a suspension on any act that occurred more than 180 days before the date of suspension. For conduct related to a criminal offense, the 180-day clock runs from the date the department head discovered the act rather than the date it happened, and the department head has to specifically allege the criminal connection to use the longer window.¹² Miss the deadline and the department loses the ability to discipline the employee for that incident at all.

Voluntary Extended Suspension

Instead of an indefinite suspension, the department head can offer a suspension of 16 to 90 calendar days as an alternative. If the employee accepts within five working days, the matter closes with no right of appeal. If the employee declines, the regular appeal process begins, with the filing deadline extended to 15 days instead of the usual 10.¹²

Appealing a Suspension

To fight a suspension, you file a written appeal within 10 days of receiving the department head’s written statement. The written statement itself must inform you of this right.¹² At that point you face a choice: appeal to the civil service commission, or appeal to an independent third-party hearing examiner.

Commission Hearing

If the appeal goes to the commission, it must hold a hearing and issue a written decision within 30 days. The department head is locked into the original written charges and cannot amend them. After hearing evidence, the commission votes in open session, though deliberation can be behind closed doors, and must choose one of three outcomes: permanent dismissal, a temporary suspension of a specific length, or full restoration to the employee’s former position.¹³

If the commission reduces or overturns the suspension, the employee gets full back pay at the regular rate for all lost time, plus restoration of sick leave, vacation, and retirement service credit.¹³ The commission can only sustain a suspension or dismissal for a civil service rule violation, and only after finding the specific charges are true.

Independent Hearing Examiner

The alternative is an independent hearing examiner. The tradeoff is significant. The examiner’s decision is final and binding on all parties, and the employee waives the right to appeal to a district court. The election has to be made in writing as part of the original notice of appeal.¹⁴ Some employees prefer the examiner because the process can feel more neutral than a commission appointed by the same executive who runs the department. Giving up judicial review is a real cost, and that choice should not be made casually.

Constitutional Protections During Investigations

Chapter 143 creates Texas-specific procedural rights, but federal constitutional protections layer on top of them during internal investigations.

Under Garrity v. New Jersey, a public employee who is compelled to answer questions during an internal investigation under threat of termination for refusal cannot have those compelled statements used against them in a criminal prosecution. The department can still require answers for administrative purposes, but the answers carry a form of immunity from criminal use.¹⁵ Departments typically issue a formal warning before investigatory questioning for this reason.

Under Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, a public employee with a property interest in continued employment, which includes any tenured or civil service position, is entitled to due process before termination. The minimum requirements are notice of the charges, an explanation of the evidence, and an opportunity to tell your side before a final decision.¹⁶ Chapter 143’s written statement and appeal procedures generally satisfy these requirements, but a department that skips steps risks violating federal due process on top of state civil service law.

Your Personnel Files

Chapter 143 keeps two separate files on each firefighter and police officer, and the rules on what goes in each are strict.

The Civil Service File

The commission’s director maintains the official civil service file. It must contain commendations and honors, periodic supervisor evaluations, and documentation of misconduct that resulted in formal disciplinary action under the chapter. Records of alleged misconduct cannot go into this file if the department determined there was insufficient evidence to support the charge. If the commission later finds that a disciplinary action lacked just cause or was not supported by the evidence, the related records must be removed.¹⁷

When anything negative is added, the director has to notify you within 30 days. You then have 15 days from receiving that notice to file a written response, which becomes part of the file. You can also request copies of the file’s contents, though the city can charge a reasonable fee. The director cannot release information from this file to anyone without your written permission unless disclosure is otherwise required by law.¹⁷

The Department File

The fire or police department can keep its own internal personnel file, but it is essentially closed. The department cannot release information from this file to outside agencies or individuals requesting records about the employee. Anyone asking for personnel information must be referred to the commission’s director and the official civil service file.¹⁸ The two-file system exists to keep unsubstantiated complaints and internal investigation notes from following an officer or firefighter into public view.

Leave, Pay, and Federal Rights

Sick Leave

Covered firefighters and police officers accrue sick leave at 1.25 working days per month, or 15 working days per year. It accumulates without limit. If you exhaust all your sick leave and can prove the illness was incurred in the line of duty, the department must grant an extension. When you leave the classified service for any reason, you are entitled to a lump-sum payout for accumulated sick leave, though the city can cap the payout at the equivalent of 90 working days.¹⁹

Assignment Pay

Cities can authorize additional pay for firefighters and police officers performing specialized functions, such as hazardous materials response or detective work. Assignment pay is set by ordinance and stacks on top of the regular salary. The department head is not eligible for it.²⁰

Compensatory Time

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, public safety employees can accrue up to 480 hours of compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay. Once you hit 480 hours, any additional overtime must be paid in cash. A city can set a lower cap by policy but cannot exceed the federal maximum.²¹

Military Leave

Firefighters and police officers who serve in the military are protected by the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. USERRA requires the city to reemploy a returning servicemember in the same position they would have held had they never left, as long as cumulative military service doesn’t exceed five years. Exceptions to the five-year cap include initial obligated service, involuntary retention during national emergencies, and required annual training for reservists and National Guard members.²² You generally have to give advance notice of military service unless military necessity or other circumstances make that impossible.

When a Collective Bargaining Agreement Applies

Many Texas cities covered by Chapter 143 also negotiate collective bargaining agreements with their fire and police unions under Chapter 174. When the two conflict, the collective bargaining agreement wins. A ratified agreement supersedes any prior statute on wages, hours, and other employment conditions to the extent of the conflict, and it preempts contrary local ordinances, executive orders, and civil service commission rules.²³

There is one guardrail. A collective bargaining agreement cannot reduce any right, benefit, or privilege an employee holds under the chapter or other law unless a majority of the bargaining unit approves the reduction by secret ballot.²³ In practice, collective bargaining usually adds to the baseline Chapter 143 protections by modifying promotional timelines, adjusting pay structures, or creating alternative grievance procedures, rather than stripping rights away.

Social Security and the Fairness Act

Many Texas firefighters and police officers participate in municipal pension systems rather than Social Security. For decades, the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits for public employees who earned pensions from work not covered by Social Security. The WEP shrank retirement benefits based on your own work record, and the GPO reduced spousal or survivor benefits. Together, the provisions affected roughly 2.8 million people.

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law on January 5, 2025, eliminated both provisions. The WEP and GPO stopped applying to benefits payable for January 2024 and later, and the Social Security Administration began adjusting payments in early 2025 for those who had been affected.²⁴ For Texas public safety employees with enough quarters of Social Security-covered employment to qualify for benefits, Social Security payments are no longer reduced on account of a municipal pension.

1
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.002 – Municipalities Covered by Chapter
2
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.004 – Election to Adopt or Repeal Chapter
3
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.006 – Implementation Commission
4
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.025 – Entrance Examinations
5
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.021 – Classification; Examinations
6
ADA.gov. Questions and Answers The ADA and Hiring Police Officers
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 623 – Prohibition of Age Discrimination
8
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.032 – Promotional Examinations
9
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.031 – Eligibility for Promotional Examination
10
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.034 – Review and Appeal of Promotional Examination
11
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.051 – Cause for Removal or Suspension
12
Texas Public Law. Texas Local Government Code 143.052 – Disciplinary Suspensions
13
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.053 – Appeal of Disciplinary Suspension
14
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.057 – Hearing Examiner
15
Justia. Garrity v. New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493
16
Justia. Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532
17
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.089 – Personnel File
18
Office of the Attorney General of Texas. OR2016-08082
19
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.045 – Sick Leave
20
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.042 – Assignment Pay
21
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 207 – Maximum Hours
22
U.S. Department of Labor. USERRA – A Guide to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
23
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 143.307 – Agreement Supersedes Conflicting Provisions
24
Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset Update