Bill Text: TX HB2997 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the temperature at which certain facilities operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice are maintained.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-03-20 - Referred to Corrections [HB2997 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-HB2997-Introduced.html
| 89R11000 BCH-F | ||
| By: Bryant | H.B. No. 2997 | |
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| relating to the temperature at which certain facilities operated by | ||
| the Texas Department of Criminal Justice are maintained. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 501, Government Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Sections 501.028 and 501.029 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 501.028. TEMPERATURE REQUIREMENTS AT DEPARTMENT | ||
| FACILITIES. (a) The department shall ensure that the temperature | ||
| in each facility operated by the department and used to house | ||
| inmates or in which department staff regularly work is maintained | ||
| at not less than 65 degrees Fahrenheit or more than 85 degrees | ||
| Fahrenheit. | ||
| (b) The department shall install and maintain an electronic | ||
| temperature gauge in the following areas of each facility described | ||
| by Subsection (a): | ||
| (1) hospitals; | ||
| (2) visiting areas; | ||
| (3) housing or dormitory areas; | ||
| (4) trustee areas; | ||
| (5) areas used for medical treatment or care, | ||
| including areas used for dispensing medication to inmates; | ||
| (6) kitchens or dining areas; | ||
| (7) food preparation areas; | ||
| (8) community areas, including dayrooms; | ||
| (9) laundry areas; | ||
| (10) areas used for work stations; | ||
| (11) indoor recreational areas, including gymnasiums; | ||
| (12) restroom and shower areas and other areas related | ||
| to inmate hygiene; | ||
| (13) administrative areas; | ||
| (14) correctional officer stations, including guard | ||
| post areas; | ||
| (15) commissary areas; | ||
| (16) areas used for programmatic, educational, or | ||
| vocational purposes; | ||
| (17) chapels or churches; | ||
| (18) libraries; and | ||
| (19) maintenance areas. | ||
| (c) The department shall: | ||
| (1) maintain a log of the temperatures recorded by | ||
| each electronic temperature gauge under Subsection (b) on an hourly | ||
| basis in an electronic format; and | ||
| (2) publish the log, at least quarterly, on the | ||
| department's publicly accessible Internet website. | ||
| Sec. 501.029. REPORT REGARDING AIR CONDITIONING. Not later | ||
| than December 1 of each year, the department shall submit to the | ||
| governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of | ||
| representatives, and each standing committee of the legislature | ||
| with primary jurisdiction over the department a report regarding | ||
| air conditioning in facilities operated by the department and used | ||
| to house inmates or in which department staff regularly work. The | ||
| report must include the following information for the preceding | ||
| 12-month period: | ||
| (1) the number of facilities in which the air | ||
| conditioning system has failed; | ||
| (2) the number of incidents in which the air | ||
| conditioning in a facility was not operational and the reason for | ||
| each incident; | ||
| (3) the number of incidents in which the temperature | ||
| was not maintained at the temperature range required under Section | ||
| 501.028(a) and the reason for each incident; | ||
| (4) for each incident described by Subdivision (2) | ||
| that was due to an equipment malfunction, a summary of the steps | ||
| taken by the department to address the malfunction and ensure the | ||
| well-being of inmates and staff at the facility; and | ||
| (5) for each incident described by Subdivision (3), a | ||
| summary of the steps taken by the department to address the cause of | ||
| the incident and ensure the well-being of inmates and staff at the | ||
| facility. | ||
| SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is | ||
| not required to fully comply with the requirements of Section | ||
| 501.028, Government Code, as added by this Act, until September 1, | ||
| 2026. | ||
| (b) Not later than September 1, 2026, the Texas Department | ||
| of Criminal Justice shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant | ||
| governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and each | ||
| standing committee of the legislature with primary jurisdiction | ||
| over the department a report regarding the department's progress | ||
| toward complying with Section 501.028, Government Code, as added by | ||
| this Act, in all facilities to which that section applies. | ||
| (c) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall submit | ||
| the first report required by Section 501.029, Government Code, as | ||
| added by this Act, not later than December 1, 2027. | ||
| SECTION 3. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this | ||
| section, 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, 2025. | ||
| (b) Section 501.029, Government Code, as added by this Act, | ||
| takes effect September 1, 2027. | ||
