Bill Text: TX HB4468 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to county jails and community mental health programs in certain counties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB4468 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB4468-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 4468 |
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relating to county jails and community mental health programs in | ||
certain counties. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 511.009(a), Government Code, is 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; | ||
(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) require the sheriff of each county to: | ||
(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) adopt reasonable rules and procedures 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) adopt reasonable rules and procedures to ensure | ||
the safety of prisoners, including rules and procedures that | ||
require a county jail to: | ||
(A) give prisoners the ability to access a mental | ||
health professional at the jail or through a telemental health | ||
service 24 hours a day or, if a mental health professional is not at | ||
the county jail at the time, then require the jail to use all | ||
reasonable efforts to arrange for the inmate to have access to a | ||
mental health professional within a reasonable time; | ||
(B) give prisoners the ability to access a health | ||
professional at the jail or through a telehealth service 24 hours a | ||
day or, if a health professional is unavailable at the jail or | ||
through a telehealth service, provide for a prisoner to be | ||
transported to access a health professional; and | ||
(C) if funding is available under Section | ||
511.019, install automated electronic sensors or cameras to ensure | ||
accurate and timely in-person checks of cells or groups of cells | ||
confining at-risk individuals. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 511.011, Government Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 511.011. REPORT ON NONCOMPLIANCE. (a) If the | ||
commission finds that a county jail does not comply with state law, | ||
including Chapter 89, Health and Safety Code, or the rules, | ||
standards, or procedures of the commission, it shall report the | ||
noncompliance to the county commissioners and sheriff of the county | ||
responsible for the county jail and shall send a copy of the report | ||
to the governor. | ||
(b) If a notice of noncompliance is issued to a facility | ||
operated by a private entity under Section 351.101 or 361.061, | ||
Local Government Code, the compliance status of the facility shall | ||
be reviewed at the next meeting of the Commission on Jail Standards. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 511.019(d), Government Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(d) The commission by rule may establish a grant program to | ||
provide grants to counties to fund capital improvements described | ||
by Subsection (c). The commission may only provide a grant to a | ||
county for capital improvements to a county jail with a capacity of | ||
not more than 288 [ |
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SECTION 4. Section 539.002, Government Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the [ |
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department shall require each entity awarded a grant under this | ||
section to: | ||
(1) leverage additional funding or in-kind | ||
contributions from private sources in an amount that is at least | ||
equal to the amount of the grant awarded under this section; | ||
(2) provide evidence of significant coordination and | ||
collaboration between the entity, local mental health authorities, | ||
municipalities, local law enforcement agencies, and other | ||
community stakeholders in establishing or expanding a community | ||
collaborative funded by a grant awarded under this section; and | ||
(3) provide evidence of a local law enforcement policy | ||
to divert appropriate persons from jails or other detention | ||
facilities to an entity affiliated with a community collaborative | ||
for the purpose of providing services to those persons. | ||
(c) The department may award a grant under this chapter to | ||
an entity for the purpose of establishing a community mental health | ||
program in a county with a population of less than 250,000, if the | ||
entity leverages additional funding from private sources in an | ||
amount equal to one-quarter of the amount of the grant to be awarded | ||
under this section, and the entity otherwise meets the requirements | ||
of Subsections (b)(2) and (3). | ||
SECTION 5. Section 1701.310(b), Occupations Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) A county jailer appointed on a temporary basis who does | ||
not satisfactorily complete the preparatory training program | ||
before the first anniversary of the date that the person is | ||
appointed shall be removed from the position. A county jailer | ||
appointed on a temporary basis shall be enrolled in the preparatory | ||
training program on or before the 90th day after their temporary | ||
appointment. A temporary appointment may not be renewed[ |
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SECTION 6. Section 1701.310, Occupations Code, is amended | ||
by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows: | ||
(f) A county jailer appointed on a temporary basis may not | ||
be promoted to a supervisory position in a county jail. | ||
SECTION 7. Not later than January 1, 2020, the Commission on | ||
Jail Standards shall update rules and procedures as necessary to | ||
comply with Section 511.009(a)(23), Government Code, as amended by | ||
this Act. | ||
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 4468 was passed by the House on May | ||
10, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 128, Nays 13, 2 present, not | ||
voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 4468 was passed by the Senate on May | ||
22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: _____________________ | ||
Date | ||
_____________________ | ||
Governor |