New police contract sets five years on the job before officers can test for sergeant, with raises starting in January

Denton police officers who want to move up to sergeant will need five straight years on the force before they can sit for the promotional exam, more than double the two years state law requires, under the city's new four-year labor agreement with its officers.

That rule and others are laid out in a summary of the 2026-2030 meet-and-confer agreement that the Police Department will present to the Chief of Police Advisory Board on Thursday, Nov. 5. The slides were posted with the board's agenda.

The agreement took effect Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2030. According to the presentation, city negotiators and the officers' association began bargaining in June, reached a tentative deal Aug. 31, and 66% of the association's members voted for it in September. The City Council approved it Sept. 22. If no successor contract is reached when it expires, it extends for one year.

Under state law, such an agreement overrides conflicting civil service rules and other local and state provisions for its term, and either side can enforce it in state district court, the presentation says.

Hiring and promotion

• Applicants younger than 21 may take the entrance exam and attend the academy, as long as they turn 21 before the state licensing exam. Civil service law sets 21 as the minimum age to test.
• Applicants living over 150 miles from police headquarters, are on military leave or receive an approved disability accommodation may take the written exam online.
• Lieutenant candidates must have three continuous years as a sergeant, compared with two under state law.
• Promotions to sergeant and lieutenant add a leadership review and an interview by a panel of five sworn members. For sergeant, the written test counts 70% and the review 30%; for lieutenant, the split is even. Up to 10 seniority points are added afterward.
• The chief may choose from the top three names on the list. A passed-over candidate cannot appeal but must get a written explanation and a meeting with the chief. Probation after a promotion doubles to 12 months.

Discipline and pay

The chief keeps a longer window to act on misconduct: 240 days from when it happened to discover it, plus 180 more days to impose discipline. Suspensions no longer have to be served on consecutive days and may be set in hours. Written reprimands are not treated as discipline, cannot be appealed and drop out of consideration for later personnel decisions after 36 months.

Pay raises continue to be tied to a May survey of 13 comparison cities, using the average minimum and maximum base pay for each rank plus 5%. Raises under the agreement start with the first pay period of January 2027.

Certification pay goes up, field training officers earn one overtime hour for each shift spent training a new officer, the 25-year cap on longevity pay is removed and the sick-leave payout at separation rises from 720 to 840 hours. A new tactical alert pay covers officers placed on standby for a possible critical incident.

The advisory board meets at 6 p.m. at the Public Safety Training Center, 719 E. Hickory St. Under a city ordinance the board is not subject to the Open Meetings Act, so the meeting is closed to the public and no minutes are kept. Residents may send comments to the police chief, who decides which ones go to the board.

The same agenda includes a presentation on internal affairs investigations and discipline.

Sources

denton-tx.legistar.com

denton-tx.legistar.com