Bill Text: TX HB549 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to certain duties of the Commission on Jail Standards regarding visitation periods for county jail prisoners.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-4)
Status: (Enrolled - Dead) 2015-06-17 - Effective on 9/1/15 [HB549 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB549-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 549 |
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relating to certain duties of the Commission on Jail Standards | ||
regarding visitation periods for county jail prisoners. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 511.009, Government Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) 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; [ |
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(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; and | ||
(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. | ||
(a-1) A county jail that as of September 1, 2015, has | ||
incurred significant design, engineering, or construction costs to | ||
provide prisoner visitation that does not comply with a rule or | ||
procedure adopted under Subsection (a)(20), or does not have the | ||
physical plant capability to provide the in-person prisoner | ||
visitation required by a rule or procedure adopted under Subsection | ||
(a)(20), is not required to comply with any commission rule or | ||
procedure adopted under Subsection (a)(20). | ||
(a-2) A commission rule or procedure adopted under | ||
Subsection (a)(20) may not restrict the authority of a county jail | ||
under the commission's rules in effect on September 1, 2015, to | ||
limit prisoner visitation for disciplinary reasons. | ||
SECTION 2. The Commission on Jail Standards shall establish | ||
the specific standards as required by Section 511.009(a)(20), | ||
Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1, | ||
2016. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 549 was passed by the House on May 12, | ||
2015, by the following vote: Yeas 94, Nays 49, 2 present, not | ||
voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 549 was passed by the Senate on May | ||
25, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: _____________________ | ||
Date | ||
_____________________ | ||
Governor |