Bill Text: TX HB146 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Introduced

Texas House Bill 146 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Relating to determining the residence of incarcerated persons.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-10-05 - Filed [HB146 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB146-Introduced.html

	87S30512 MAW-F

	By: Crockett	H.B. No. 146



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to determining the residence of incarcerated persons.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Article 16.21, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Art. 16.21. DUTY OF SHERIFF AS TO PRISONERS. (a) Every
	sheriff shall keep safely a person committed to the sheriff's [~~his~~]
	custody. The sheriff [He] shall use no cruel or unusual means to
	secure this end, but shall adopt all necessary measures to prevent
	the escape of a prisoner. The sheriff [He] may summon a guard of
	sufficient number, in case it becomes necessary to prevent an
	escape from jail, or the rescue of a prisoner.
	(b) A sheriff shall take all practical measures to obtain
	and record the following information from a person committed to the
	sheriff's custody:
	(1) the age, gender, and race of each person and
	whether the person is of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin, if
	known; and
	(2) the current address or location at which the
	person resides.
	(c) If a sheriff is unable to obtain the information
	described by Subsection (b), the sheriff shall make a record of that
	fact.
	(d) Information described by Subsections (b) and (c) is
	confidential and not subject to required disclosure under Chapter
	552, Government Code.
	SECTION 2. Section 1.015(e), Election Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(e) A person [~~who is an inmate in a penal institution or~~] who
	is an involuntary inmate in a health care, detention, [~~hospital~~] or
	eleemosynary institution, including a hospital, rehabilitation
	center, substance abuse treatment center, psychiatric facility,
	prison, jail, or detention center, does not, solely because the
	person is [~~while~~] an inmate, acquire residence at the place where
	the institution is located. Notwithstanding any other law, a
	person described by this subsection retains residency at the
	location of the person's residence before becoming an inmate and
	may register to vote or remain registered to vote at that location
	if the person is otherwise eligible to vote in the jurisdiction of
	the person's residence. A person who is an inmate and who does not
	have a residence outside of the institution at which the person is
	held may, notwithstanding any other law, register to vote at the
	institution provided that the person is otherwise eligible to vote
	in the jurisdiction in which the institution is located. A person
	who registers to vote at an institution in the manner provided by
	this subsection loses residence at that institution once the person
	is released from the institution and acquires a new residence.
	SECTION 3. Sections 2058.002(a) and (b), Government Code,
	are amended to read as follows:
	(a) The legislature or the Legislative Redistricting Board
	under Article III, Section 28, of the Texas Constitution may
	officially recognize or act on a federal decennial census as
	adjusted under Section 2058.003 before September 1 of the year
	after the calendar year during which the census was taken.
	(b) A political subdivision governed by a body elected from
	single-member districts may recognize and act on tabulations of
	population of a federal decennial census as adjusted under Section
	2058.003, for redistricting purposes, as soon as those adjusted
	tabulations become available [~~on or after the date the governor~~
	~~receives a report of the basic tabulations of population from the~~
	~~secretary of commerce under 13 U.S.C. Section 141(c)~~]. This
	subsection does not apply to a political subdivision that was not
	subject to a statute requiring certain political subdivisions,
	classified by population, to elect their governing bodies from
	single-member districts under the preceding federal census.
	SECTION 4. Chapter 2058, Government Code, is amended by
	adding Sections 2058.003 and 2058.004 to read as follows:
	Sec. 2058.003. INCLUSION OF INCARCERATED PERSONS IN CENSUS
	COUNTS. (a) Not later than the 14th day following the date on which
	the tract-level population counts for this state from the federal
	decennial census are released by the director of the Bureau of the
	Census of the United States Department of Commerce, the
	comptroller, in coordination with the Texas Demographic Center, the
	Texas Legislative Council, and the Texas Department of Criminal
	Justice, shall prepare and disseminate adjusted population counts
	for each geographic unit included in the census counts as provided
	by this section.
	(b) Not later than June 1 of the year in which the federal
	decennial census is conducted, each state or local governmental
	entity in this state that operates a facility for the incarceration
	of persons convicted of a criminal offense, including a mental
	health institution for those persons, or that places any person
	convicted of a criminal offense in a private facility to be
	incarcerated on behalf of the governmental entity, shall submit a
	report to the comptroller with the following information:
	(1) a unique identifier, not including the name, for
	each person incarcerated in a facility operated by the governmental
	entity or in a private facility on behalf of the governmental entity
	on the date for which the census reports population who completed a
	census form, responded to a census inquiry, or was included in any
	report provided to census officials, if the form, response, or
	report indicated that the person resided at the facility on that
	date;
	(2) the age, gender, and race of each person included
	in the report and whether the person is of Hispanic, Latino, or
	Spanish origin, if known; and
	(3) the last address at which the person resided
	before the person's current incarceration.
	(c) Each governmental entity required to make a report under
	Subsection (b) shall ensure that the entity collects and maintains
	the information required to make the report. The comptroller, in
	coordination with the correctional institutions division of the
	Texas Department of Criminal Justice, shall prescribe procedures
	that a governmental entity shall use to permit each person included
	in the report to indicate the person's race and ethnicity for
	purposes of Subsection (b)(2) in a manner similar to the manner in
	which a person not incarcerated would indicate the person's race
	and ethnicity for the federal decennial census.
	(d) The comptroller shall request each agency that operates
	a federal facility in this state that incarcerates persons
	convicted of a criminal offense to provide the comptroller with a
	report including the information listed in Subsection (b) for
	persons convicted of an offense in this state.
	(e) For each person included in a report received under
	Subsection (b) or (d), the comptroller, in coordination with the
	Texas Demographic Center, the Texas Legislative Council, and the
	Texas Department of Criminal Justice, shall determine the
	geographic units for which population counts are reported in the
	federal decennial census that contain the last address at which the
	person resided before the person's incarceration according to the
	report and, if that address is in this state:
	(1) adjust all relevant population counts reported in
	the census, including populations by age, gender, race, and
	Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin, as if the person resided at
	that address on the day for which the census reports population; and
	(2) eliminate the person from all applicable
	population counts reported in the federal decennial census for the
	geographic units that include the facility at which the person was
	incarcerated on the day for which the census reports population.
	(f) The information required to be included in a report
	under Subsection (b) or (d) is confidential and not subject to
	required disclosure under Chapter 552. This subsection does not
	apply to information aggregated by geographic census unit that does
	not disclose the address of or other information that might
	identify an individual.
	Sec. 2058.004. USE OF ADJUSTED CENSUS COUNTS FOR
	REDISTRICTING. (a) Each state and local governmental entity,
	including any board or commission, that is responsible for drawing
	districts for any elected office in this state on the basis of
	population, including any federal, state, or local elected office,
	shall use the adjusted population counts prepared by the
	comptroller under Section 2058.003 to determine the population of
	geographic units.
	(b) Each political subdivision of this state that elects any
	members of a governmental body from election districts, wards, or
	precincts that are subject to the one-person, one-vote requirement
	of the Constitution of the United States shall ensure that after
	redistricting each of those election districts, wards, or precincts
	does not vary from the average population of those districts,
	wards, or precincts according to the most recent adjusted
	population counts prepared by the comptroller under Section
	2058.003 by more than five percent.
	(c) A state governmental body, including the legislature,
	the Legislative Redistricting Board, or any state court, that
	redistricts any election districts subject to the one-person,
	one-vote requirement of the Constitution of the United States shall
	comply with the restriction provided by Subsection (b).
	(d) To the extent of any conflict between Subsection (b) or
	(c) and another state or federal law requiring a deviation of less
	than five percent for an election district, the other law controls.
	(e) A governmental entity to which this section applies may
	exceed the adjusted population restrictions required by this
	section only to the extent necessary to comply with federal law or
	the Texas Constitution.
	(f) This section does not apply to any political subdivision
	or state governmental body before the comptroller makes the initial
	adjustment of census counts under Section 2058.003.
	SECTION 5. Section 151.317, Tax Code, is amended by
	amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
	follows:
	(c) Except as provided by Subsection (c-1), in [In] this
	section, "residential use" means use:
	(1) in a family dwelling or in a multifamily apartment
	or housing complex or building or in a part of a building occupied
	as a home or residence when the use is by the owner of the dwelling,
	apartment, complex, or building or part of the building occupied;
	or
	(2) in a dwelling, apartment, house, or building or
	part of a building occupied as a home or residence when the use is by
	a tenant who occupies the dwelling, apartment, house, or building
	or part of a building under a contract for an express initial term
	for longer than 29 consecutive days.
	(c-1) The term "residential use" does not include use in a
	health care or detention facility, including a hospital,
	rehabilitation center, substance abuse treatment center,
	psychiatric facility, prison, jail, or other detention center, or
	use by the owner or operator of the health care or detention
	facility.
	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect January 1, 2023.