ruled in 2021<\/a> that the airport and parks officers had grounds to file a lawsuit. The Texas Supreme Court in 2022 declined to take up the case when the city contested the appellate court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\nAfter a failed settlement attempt in 2025, the unions filed an amended petition calling for $25 million in damages, and they continue to argue that officers deserve pay more in line with SAPD officers\u00a0and bargaining rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Attorneys representing the city have argued the unions don\u2019t have the right to seek $25 million damages under the code they are suing under \u2014 Chapter 174 of the Texas Local Government Code.<\/p>\n
Chapter 174, which San Antonio voters approved in 1974, gives\u00a0SAPD officers the right to collectively bargain with the city on compensation and other benefits.<\/p>\n
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The code only allows groups to argue for the right to bargain, not to collect damages, attorneys for the city have argued in court filings and a June hearing before\u00a0Nieto.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ricky Poole, a San Antonio attorney representing the unions, argued at the hearing that the unions have the right to ask for the funds under Chapter 174, though he also said the unions’ damages should be hammered out in a trial at a later date.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Poole noted that when the Fourth Court of Appeals took up the matter, it ruled the unions could continue their lawsuit and \u201care entitled to collectively bargain with the city and can receive both current and future benefits of the collective bargaining agreements\u201d between the city and the San Antonio Police Officers Association.<\/p>\n
The airport and parks police unions are open to being added to SAPOA\u2019s employment contract or being granted their own collective bargaining power, according to their lawsuit.<\/p>\n
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This month, Nieto said in a “judge’s note” to the both parties that she\u00a0denied the city\u2019s request to prohibit the unions from seeking $25 million in damages, though her decision\u00a0is not final yet. She still has to sign an order, and it’s unclear when she’ll do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The city has asked the judge to reconsider.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Poole had asked the judge allow a trial to begin on\u00a0Feb. 1. That date could get pushed back if the city appeals the judge\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit names the city of San Antonio and City Manager Erik Walsh, but\u00a0Nieto said Walsh wouldn’t personally be on the hook for any damages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Years-long fight<\/p>\n
Park police used to be under the city\u2019s Parks and Recreation Department, and airport police were under the San Antonio International Airport. The two police units have reported to the San Antonio police chief\u00a0since 2009, and the budgets for the airport and park police have been included in the \u00a0budget since 2015.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pay rates for park and airport police are lower than those in the San Antonio Police Department. Parks and airport police have a pay range of $58,400 to $79,500 while SAPD officers earn $62,900 to $85,700 after graduating from the department\u2019s training academy, a city spokesman said last year when the park and airport unions amended their petition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though airport and parks police can issue citations and make arrests like SAPD officers, their day-to-day duties are usually limited to roving the airport and parks rather than responding to emergency calls from around the city. SAPD also has an internal order requiring parks police officers to call for backup when faced with a potential felony crime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Parks and airport officers\u00a0are certified by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, the state agency responsible for licensing and training police.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The city has argued that parks and airport officers do not undergo training that’s as comprehensive or rigorous as\u00a0SAPD officers.<\/p>\n
The airport and parks police unions aren\u2019t part of SAPOA\u2019s collective bargaining agreement. Instead, they have negotiated with the city under a nonbinding meet-and-confer system, which Poole has said gives officers less power at the bargaining table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Airport and parks police have been without a contract since Oct. 1, 2019, when their last agreement expired and negotiations for a new contract stalled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A San Antonio Park Police officer overlooks set up for Fiesta Fiesta, the grand kick off event for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-380068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}