Bill Text: TX HB418 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Relating to certain duties of the Commission on Jail Standards regarding guidelines for the transportation of inmates by private vendors.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-03 - Referred to Criminal Justice [HB418 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB418-Engrossed.html
85R5552 JRR-D | ||
By: White | H.B. No. 418 |
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relating to certain duties of the Commission on Jail Standards | ||
regarding guidelines for the transportation of inmates by private | ||
vendors. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 511.009(a), Government Code, as amended | ||
by Chapters 281 (H.B. 875), 648 (H.B. 549), and 688 (H.B. 634), Acts | ||
of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted and | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) The commission shall: | ||
(1) adopt reasonable rules and procedures | ||
establishing minimum standards for the construction, equipment, | ||
maintenance, and operation of county jails; | ||
(2) adopt reasonable rules and procedures | ||
establishing minimum standards for the custody, care, and treatment | ||
of prisoners; | ||
(3) adopt reasonable rules establishing minimum | ||
standards for the number of jail supervisory personnel and for | ||
programs and services to meet the needs of prisoners; | ||
(4) adopt reasonable rules and procedures | ||
establishing minimum requirements for programs of rehabilitation, | ||
education, and recreation in county jails; | ||
(5) revise, amend, or change rules and procedures if | ||
necessary; | ||
(6) provide to local government officials | ||
consultation on and technical assistance for county jails; | ||
(7) review and comment on plans for the construction | ||
and major modification or renovation of county jails; | ||
(8) require that the sheriff and commissioners of each | ||
county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the | ||
commission, an annual report on the conditions in each county jail | ||
within their jurisdiction, including all information necessary to | ||
determine compliance with state law, commission orders, and the | ||
rules adopted under this chapter; | ||
(9) review the reports submitted under Subdivision (8) | ||
and require commission employees to inspect county jails regularly | ||
to ensure compliance with state law, commission orders, and rules | ||
and procedures adopted under this chapter; | ||
(10) adopt a classification system to assist sheriffs | ||
and judges in determining which defendants are low-risk and | ||
consequently suitable participants in a county jail work release | ||
program under Article 42.034, Code of Criminal Procedure; | ||
(11) adopt rules relating to requirements for | ||
segregation of classes of inmates and to capacities for county | ||
jails; | ||
(12) require that the chief jailer of each municipal | ||
lockup submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the | ||
commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age | ||
securely detained in the lockup, including all information | ||
necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure | ||
confinement of children in municipal lockups; | ||
(13) at least annually determine whether each county | ||
jail is in compliance with the rules and procedures adopted under | ||
this chapter; | ||
(14) require that the sheriff and commissioners court | ||
of each county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the | ||
commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age | ||
securely detained in the county jail, including all information | ||
necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure | ||
confinement of children in county jails; | ||
(15) schedule announced and unannounced inspections | ||
of jails under the commission's jurisdiction using the risk | ||
assessment plan established under Section 511.0085 to guide the | ||
inspections process; | ||
(16) adopt a policy for gathering and distributing to | ||
jails under the commission's jurisdiction information regarding: | ||
(A) common issues concerning jail | ||
administration; | ||
(B) examples of successful strategies for | ||
maintaining compliance with state law and the rules, standards, and | ||
procedures of the commission; and | ||
(C) solutions to operational challenges for | ||
jails; | ||
(17) report to the Texas Correctional Office on | ||
Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments on a jail's compliance | ||
with Article 16.22, Code of Criminal Procedure; | ||
(18) adopt reasonable rules and procedures | ||
establishing minimum requirements for jails to: | ||
(A) determine if a prisoner is pregnant; and | ||
(B) ensure that the jail's health services plan | ||
addresses medical and mental health care, including nutritional | ||
requirements, and any special housing or work assignment needs for | ||
persons who are confined in the jail and are known or determined to | ||
be pregnant; | ||
(19) provide guidelines to sheriffs regarding | ||
contracts between a sheriff and another entity for the provision of | ||
food services to or the operation of a commissary in a jail under | ||
the commission's jurisdiction, including specific provisions | ||
regarding conflicts of interest and avoiding the appearance of | ||
impropriety; [ |
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(20) adopt reasonable rules and procedures | ||
establishing minimum standards for prisoner visitation that | ||
provide each prisoner at a county jail with a minimum of two | ||
in-person, noncontact visitation periods per week of at least 20 | ||
minutes duration each; | ||
(21) [ |
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(A) investigate and verify the veteran status of | ||
each prisoner by using data made available from the Veterans | ||
Reentry Search Service (VRSS) operated by the United States | ||
Department of Veterans Affairs or a similar service; and | ||
(B) use the data described by Paragraph (A) to | ||
assist prisoners who are veterans in applying for federal benefits | ||
or compensation for which the prisoners may be eligible under a | ||
program administered by the United States Department of Veterans | ||
Affairs; | ||
(22) [ |
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regarding visitation of a prisoner at a county jail by a guardian, | ||
as defined by Section 1002.012, Estates Code, that: | ||
(A) allow visitation by a guardian to the same | ||
extent as the prisoner's next of kin, including placing the | ||
guardian on the prisoner's approved visitors list on the guardian's | ||
request and providing the guardian access to the prisoner during a | ||
facility's standard visitation hours if the prisoner is otherwise | ||
eligible to receive visitors; and | ||
(B) require the guardian to provide the sheriff | ||
with letters of guardianship issued as provided by Section | ||
1106.001, Estates Code, before being allowed to visit the prisoner; | ||
and | ||
(23) in consultation with interested parties, adopt | ||
reasonable rules and procedures establishing minimum guidelines | ||
for the transportation of inmates by a private vendor other than a | ||
private vendor that is registered with the Federal Motor Carrier | ||
Safety Administration. | ||
SECTION 2. The Commission on Jail Standards shall establish | ||
the guidelines required by Section 511.009(a)(23), Government | ||
Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2018. | ||
SECTION 3. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails | ||
over another Act of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, | ||
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted | ||
codes. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |