Bill Text: TX HB2143 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the conditions of community service of certain offenders and the reentry and reintegration of offenders released or discharged from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-04 - Meeting cancelled [HB2143 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB2143-Introduced.html

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82R9964 MAW-F
By: Turner H.B. No. 2143

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the conditions of community service of certain
offenders and the reentry and reintegration of offenders released
or discharged from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (m) to read as follows:
(m) If the judge places a defendant on community
supervision, the judge shall require the defendant to provide to
the judge a copy of the defendant's driver's license or personal
identification card issued by this state, another state, or the
federal government. If the judge determines that the defendant
does not possess a valid driver's license or identification card,
the judge shall require as a condition of community supervision
that the defendant obtain, not later than the 30th day after the
date the judge places the defendant on community supervision, a
driver's license or identification card. The judge may require a
community supervision and corrections department or other officer
supervising the defendant to assist the defendant in obtaining a
driver's license or identification card.
SECTION 2. Section 495.028, Government Code, as added by
Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular
Session, 2009, is reenacted to read as follows:
Sec. 495.028. IMPLEMENTATION OF REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION
PLAN. (a) The department may contract and coordinate with private
vendors, units of local government, or other entities to implement
the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan developed under
Section 501.092, including contracting to:
(1) coordinate the supervision and services provided
to offenders in correctional facilities with any supervision or
services provided to offenders who have been released or discharged
from the correctional facility;
(2) provide offenders awaiting release or discharge
with documents that are necessary after release or discharge,
including identification papers, medical prescriptions, job
training certificates, and referrals to services; and
(3) provide housing and structured programs,
including group homes for recovering substance abusers, through
which offenders are provided services immediately following
release or discharge.
(b) To ensure accountability, any contract entered into
under this section must contain specific performance measures that
the department shall use to evaluate compliance with the terms of
the contract.
SECTION 3. Section 501.091, Government Code, as added by
Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular
Session, 2009, is reenacted to read as follows:
Sec. 501.091. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Correctional facility" means a facility operated
by or under contract with the department.
(2) "Offender" means an inmate or state jail defendant
confined in a correctional facility.
SECTION 4. Section 501.092, Government Code, as added by
Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular
Session, 2009, is reenacted to read as follows:
Sec. 501.092. COMPREHENSIVE REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION PLAN
FOR OFFENDERS. (a) The department shall develop a comprehensive
plan to reduce recidivism and ensure the successful reentry and
reintegration of offenders into the community following an
offender's release or discharge from a correctional facility.
(b) The reentry and reintegration plan developed under this
section must provide for:
(1) an assessment of offenders entering a correctional
facility to determine which skills the offender needs to develop to
be successful in the community following release or discharge;
(2) programs that address the assessed needs of
offenders;
(3) a comprehensive network of transition programs to
address the needs of offenders released or discharged from a
correctional facility;
(4) the identification of providers of existing local
programs and transitional services with whom the department may
contract under Section 495.028 to implement the reentry and
reintegration plan; and
(5) subject to Subsection (c), the sharing of
information between local coordinators, persons with whom the
department contracts under Section 495.028, and other providers of
services as necessary to adequately assess and address the needs of
each offender.
(c) An offender's personal health information may be
disclosed under Subsection (b)(5) only if:
(1) the offender consents to the disclosure; and
(2) the disclosure does not violate the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No.
104-191) or other state or federal law.
(d) The programs provided under Subsections (b)(2) and (3)
must:
(1) be implemented by highly skilled staff who are
experienced in working with inmate reentry and reintegration
programs;
(2) provide offenders with:
(A) individualized case management and a full
continuum of care;
(B) life-skills training, including information
about budgeting, money management, nutrition, and exercise;
(C) education and, if an offender has a learning
disability, special education;
(D) employment training;
(E) appropriate treatment programs, including
substance abuse and mental health treatment programs; and
(F) parenting and relationship building classes;
and
(3) be designed to build for former offenders
post-release and post-discharge support from the community into
which an offender is released or discharged, including support from
agencies and organizations within that community.
(e) In developing the reentry and reintegration plan under
this section, the department shall ensure that the reentry program
for long-term inmates under Section 501.096 and the reintegration
services provided under Section 501.097 are incorporated into the
plan.
SECTION 5. Section 501.098, Government Code, as added by
Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular
Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 501.098. REENTRY TASK FORCE. (a) The department shall
coordinate the work of the task force with the Office of Court
Administration, and by rule shall enter into a memorandum of
understanding with the following entities to establish a reentry
task force:
(1) the Texas Veterans [Youth] Commission;
(2) the Texas Workforce Commission;
(3) the Department of Public Safety;
(4) the Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs;
(5) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with
Medical or Mental Impairments;
(6) the Health and Human Services Commission;
(7) the Judicial Advisory Council to the community
justice assistance division and the board [Texas Judicial Council];
[and]
(8) a faith-based organization selected by the
department; and
(9) other organizations, agencies, or individuals [an
organization] selected by the department that advocate [advocates]
for or have significant interest in the successful [provides]
reentry and [or] reintegration of [services to] offenders following
their release or discharge from a correctional facility.
(b) The reentry task force established under Subsection (a)
may:
(1) identify applicable laws, ordinances, policies,
rules, or regulations of the federal government, this state, or a
political subdivision of this state that affect an offender's
successful reentry and reintegration [gaps in services for
offenders] following the offender's [their] release or discharge,
including laws, ordinances, policies, rules, or regulations
relating to an offender's access to or ability to obtain, in [to]
rural or urban communities, [in the areas of] employment, housing,
substance abuse treatment, medical care, government issued
identification documents, and any other [areas in which the
offenders need] special services; [and]
(2) coordinate with providers of existing local
reentry and reintegration programs, including programs operated by
a municipality or county, to make recommendations regarding the
provision of comprehensive services to offenders following their
release or discharge to rural or urban communities; and
(3) evaluate efforts by the department, county jails,
community supervision and corrections departments, and the courts
of this state to assist offenders in obtaining government issued
identification.
SECTION 6. Section 501.100, Government Code, as added by
Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular
Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 501.100. RECIDIVISM STUDY; REPORT. (a) The
department shall conduct and coordinate research to determine
whether the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan developed
under Section 501.092 reduces [and the policies adopted under
Section 501.099 to encourage family unity and participation reduce]
recidivism rates.
(b) Not later than September 1 of each even-numbered year,
the department shall deliver a report of the activities of the
reentry task force established under Section 501.098 and the
results of research conducted or coordinated under Subsection (a)
to the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
representatives, and the standing committees of each house of the
legislature with primary jurisdiction over criminal justice and
corrections.
SECTION 7. Section 501.099, Government Code, as added by
Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular
Session, 2009, is repealed.
SECTION 8. The change in law made by Section 11(m), Article
42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, applies to
a person placed on community supervision on or after the effective
date of this Act regardless of when the person committed the offense
for which the person is placed on community supervision.
SECTION 9. Not later than January 1, 2012, the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice shall:
(1) enter into memorandums of understanding and
establish the reentry task force as provided by Section 501.098,
Government Code, as reenacted and amended by this Act; and
(2) develop and implement the comprehensive reentry
and reintegration plan for offenders as required by Section
501.092, Government Code, as reenacted by this Act.
SECTION 10. 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 September 1, 2011.