Bill Text: TX HB2844 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the supervision of certain people convicted of a criminal offense and to the organization and operation of certain correctional entities.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-17 - Referred to Corrections [HB2844 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB2844-Introduced.html

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82R9590 KCR-D
By: Madden H.B. No. 2844

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the supervision of certain people convicted of a
criminal offense and to the organization and operation of certain
correctional entities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 23, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) If a judge proceeds under Subsection (a) to dispose of a
case as if there had been no community supervision, the judge may
require a person convicted of a felony to serve a specific term of
imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. On
completion of the term of imprisonment, the person shall be
released from that department in the manner described by Section
508.147, Government Code.
SECTION 2. Section 76.002, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) The district and statutory county court judges
described by Subsection (a) may establish committees from among
their membership to further the efficient operation of the
department established by the judges.
SECTION 3. Section 76.011(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The department may operate, or assist in the operation
of, programs for the supervision and rehabilitation of persons in
pretrial intervention programs, including diversion programs and
other specialized court programs for persons charged with felonies.
Programs may include testing for controlled substances. A person
in a pretrial intervention program may be supervised for a period
not to exceed two years.
SECTION 4. Section 492.014, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 492.014. HEADQUARTERS. [(a)] The board and the
department shall maintain joint headquarters in Austin.
[(b) The department shall maintain dual headquarters in
Austin and Huntsville. The institutional division shall maintain
its headquarters in Huntsville and may not assign more than 15
personnel to Austin.] The board shall [attempt to] locate the joint
headquarters [all Austin offices] in one building or in buildings
that are in close proximity to one another.
SECTION 5. Section 493.0021, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a division of the
department, or to a distribution of a power or a duty, that is
established by statute on or after September 1, 2011.
SECTION 6. Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 493.0072 to read as follows:
Sec. 493.0072. BUDGETARY ADJUSTMENTS: FACTORS TO CONSIDER.
Before the department, in order to make downward budgetary
adjustments, considers reducing the number of people employed by
the department, the department shall make reductions in:
(1) the benefits described by Section 494.007(b) that
are provided to department employees; and
(2) benefits that are substantially similar in nature
and cost to the department as the benefits described by Section
494.007(b).
SECTION 7. Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 493.030 to read as follows:
Sec. 493.030. JOINT STUDY CONCERNING INTERAGENCY
COMMUNICATION. (a) The department and the Board of Pardons and
Paroles shall conduct a joint study concerning the effectiveness of
communications between the department and that board concerning
inmates who are confined in the department or are under the
supervision of the department following release on parole or to
mandatory supervision. The study must evaluate whether
transferring any duties between the department and that board, or
reorganizing any aspect of the department or that board, could
achieve any cost savings or organizational efficiencies.
(b) The department and the board shall, not later than
December 1, 2012, submit the results of the study conducted under
Subsection (a) to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
speaker of the house of representatives, the Sunset Advisory
Commission, and the standing committees in the house of
representatives and the senate that have primary jurisdiction over
the department.
(c) This section expires January 1, 2013.
SECTION 8. Section 495.027(d), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(d) Subject to board approval, the department shall adopt
policies governing the use of the pay telephone service by an inmate
confined in a facility operated by the department, including a
policy governing the eligibility of an inmate to use the service.
The policies adopted under this subsection may not unduly restrict
calling patterns or volume and must allow for an average monthly
call usage rate of not less than 480 minutes per month [eight calls,
with each call having an average duration of not less than 10
minutes,] per eligible inmate.
SECTION 9. Subchapter B, Chapter 499, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 499.029 to read as follows:
Sec. 499.029. REDUCTION OF POPULATION THROUGH EXPANSION OF
NONTRADITIONAL CONFINEMENT. (a) The department shall adopt
policies designed to reduce the population of inmates in
traditional correctional facilities operated by or under contract
with the department by transitioning as many inmates as possible
out of those facilities and into community-based facilities,
including halfway houses and community residential facilities,
that operate at a lower per-inmate cost.
(b) The policies adopted by the department under Subsection
(a) must minimize the cost incurred by the department in confining
inmates and maximize the use of community-based resources in
providing inmates with adequate supervision and access to
rehabilitative services and programs.
SECTION 10. Section 501.063, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 501.063. ANNUAL INMATE FEE [COPAYMENTS] FOR [CERTAIN]
HEALTH CARE [VISITS]. (a) An inmate confined in a facility
operated by or under contract with the department, other than a
halfway house, [who initiates a visit to a health care provider]
shall pay an annual health care services fee [make a copayment] to
the department in the amount of $100 [$3]. The inmate shall pay
[make] the annual fee [copayment] out of the inmate's trust fund.
If the balance in the fund is insufficient to cover the fee
[copayment], 50 percent of each deposit to the fund shall be applied
toward the balance owed until the total amount owed is paid.
(b) [The department may not charge a copayment for health
care:
[(1) provided in response to a life-threatening or
emergency situation affecting the inmate's health;
[(2) initiated by the department;
[(3) initiated by the health care provider or
consisting of routine follow-up, prenatal, or chronic care; or
[(4) provided under a contractual obligation that is
established under the Interstate Corrections Compact or under an
agreement with another state that precludes assessing a copayment.
[(c)] The department shall adopt policies to ensure that
before any deductions are made from an inmate's trust fund under
this section [an inmate initiates a visit to a health care
provider], the inmate is informed that the annual health care
services fee [a $3 copayment] will be deducted from the inmate's
trust fund as required by Subsection (a).
(c) [(d)] The department may not deny an inmate access to
health care as a result of the inmate's failure or inability to pay
a fee under this section [make a copayment].
(d) [(e)] The department shall deposit money received under
this section in an account in the general revenue fund that may be
used only to pay the cost of administering this section. At the
beginning of each fiscal year, the comptroller shall transfer any
surplus from the preceding fiscal year to the state treasury to the
credit of the general revenue fund.
SECTION 11. Section 508.283, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) The board shall adopt a policy that requires parole
panels to consider all non-incarceration sanctions before revoking
a person's release on parole or to mandatory supervision.
SECTION 12. Section 509.007, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 509.007. COMMUNITY JUSTICE PLAN. (a) The division
shall require as a condition to payment of state aid to a department
or county under Section 509.011 and eligibility for payment of
costs under Section 499.124 that a community justice plan be
submitted for the department. The community justice council shall
submit the plan required by this subsection. A community justice
council may not submit a plan under this section unless the plan is
first approved by the judges described by Section 76.002 who
established the department served by the council. The council
shall submit a revised plan to the division each even-numbered
[odd-numbered] year by a date designated by the division. A plan
may be amended at any time with the approval of the division.
(b) A community justice plan required under this section
must include:
(1) a statement of goals and priorities and of
commitment by the community justice council, the judges described
by Section 76.002 who established the department, and the
department director to achieve a targeted level of alternative
sanctions;
(2) a description of methods for measuring the success
of programs provided by the department or provided by an entity
served by the department; [and]
(3) a proposal for the use of state jail felony
facilities and, at the discretion of the community justice council,
a regional proposal for the construction, operation, maintenance,
or management of a state jail felony facility by a county, a
community supervision and corrections department, or a private
vendor under a contract with a county or a community supervision and
corrections department; and
(4) a description of additional alternative sanctions
the department could use to more fully rehabilitate persons under
the supervision of the department, were the department to receive
additional state aid under Section 509.011.
SECTION 13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.