TCOLE to add pay-status fields to appointment forms, launch records cleanup and Otter integration

The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement said it will change how agencies report officer pay status and improve record displays to make appointment records more consistent and useful.

Executive Director Greg Stevens told commissioners the agency has expanded hiring and is moving to standardize pay-status designations after recent legislative resource increases. Jessica, a TCOLE staff member, said the first phase begins Feb. 19, when the L1 appointment form will offer three pay-status options — full time, part time and reserve — and the change-in-pay-status form will add a fourth, administrative duty, available only for pay-status changes.

Jessica said the project is a three-phase effort: (1) rollout of the new L1 and change-in-pay-status forms; (2) a records cleanup to normalize historical pay-status fields and other inconsistent entries (staff asked agencies not to begin cleanup on their own until April when the commission provides specific guidance); and (3) changes to how the Personal Status Report and public License Lookup display pay-status data. She told the commission that large agencies will be offered individualized assistance as part of the cleanup.

The rollout is linked to technical changes in TCOLE’s systems. Jessica said the SecureShare background-file capability will be brought into the agency’s 'Otter' repository in late March, enabling delegated, role-based access to background-investigation files. An assignment-manager dashboard in TCLEDS also is planned to allow chief administrators to assign roles (for example, background investigator or file uploader) in the system rather than requesting access via support email.

Commissioners pressed staff about the administrative-duty status and how broadly it will be used. Staff said administrative duty is intended primarily for situations where a licensee must be publicly shown as restricted from exercising police powers (for example, in certain E-1 cases), and that an obligation to report administrative duty will be narrowly applied to cases where rule or law prohibits acting under appointment. The reserve option will be available only to agencies statutorily authorized to appoint reserves.

Stevens and Jessica said the changes are intended to give chiefs and agencies clearer tools to reflect operational realities — such as long-term disability, light duty, or reserve appointments — while preserving accurate public information and preventing ad-hoc or inconsistent record edits.

Implementation details: staff set Feb. 19 for the L1 rollout, said they will return in April with the cleanup timeline and scenarios, and said Otter/SecureShare integration is scheduled for late March. Agencies were asked to wait for April guidance before editing historical pay-status records.