Jefferson County, Texas v. Jefferson County Constables Association

Debra H. Lehrmann, Justice This case comes to us on a county's petition to vacate an arbitrator's award in a dispute governed by a collective bargaining agreement between the county and its deputy constables. The primary issue presented involves the validity of the underlying agreement; specifically, we are asked whether deputy constables are "police officers" entitled to enter into collective bargaining agreements with their public employers under Local Government Code chapter 174. If they are, we are also asked whether the arbitrator in this case nevertheless exceeded his authority in (1)…