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Starting July 1, 2026, this bill removes merit system protections — the civil service rules that govern how public employees are hired, promoted, and fired — from certain supervisory peace officers in county sheriff's offices. Specifically, mid-level supervisors who are no more than three levels below the county sheriff and who oversee other supervisors are no longer automatically covered by the merit system, unless the county sheriff designates those positions as merit system positions before July 1, 2026. Frontline supervisors (those who directly supervise non-supervisory officers) and officers lower in the chain of command retain their merit system protections. Officers who already hold merit status before the law takes effect keep that status unless they voluntarily give it up, and the bill requires merit commissions to offer financial or other incentives to encourage those officers to voluntarily leave the merit system.