Bill Text: TX SB182 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to program accessibility for female inmates of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-02-03 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB182 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-SB182-Introduced.html
| 89R4677 BCH-F | ||
| By: Menéndez | S.B. No. 182 | |
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| relating to program accessibility for female inmates of the Texas | ||
| Department of Criminal Justice. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Section 501.027, Government Code, is amended to | ||
| read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 501.027. ACCESS TO PROGRAMS BY FEMALE INMATES. (a) | ||
| The department shall develop and implement policies that increase | ||
| and promote a female inmate's access to programs, including | ||
| parenting classes and educational, vocational, substance use | ||
| treatment, rehabilitation, life skills training, and prerelease | ||
| programs, offered to inmates in the custody of the department, | ||
| including programs offered to defendants confined in state jail | ||
| felony facilities [ |
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| access to a program to meet the requirements of this section. | ||
| (b) The department shall develop and implement policies | ||
| that: | ||
| (1) require each facility to make the programs | ||
| described by Subsection (a) available and accessible to a female | ||
| inmate not later than the 45th day after the date the inmate arrives | ||
| at the facility; | ||
| (2) ensure female inmates have access to program | ||
| opportunities, including master's level education courses, that | ||
| are equitable to the program opportunities that are provided to | ||
| male inmates; and | ||
| (3) ensure that vocational programs and any related | ||
| certifications are substantively relevant to current workforce | ||
| demands and opportunities. | ||
| (c) Not later than December 31 of each year, the department | ||
| shall: | ||
| (1) prepare and submit to the governor, the lieutenant | ||
| governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, each | ||
| standing committee of the legislature having primary jurisdiction | ||
| over the department, and the reentry task force described by | ||
| Section 501.098 a written report that includes: | ||
| (A) a description of any department policies that | ||
| were created, modified, or eliminated during the preceding year to | ||
| meet the requirements of this section; and | ||
| (B) a list of programs available to female | ||
| inmates in the custody of the department during the preceding year; | ||
| and | ||
| (2) publish the report on the department's Internet | ||
| website. | ||
| SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date | ||
| of this Act, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall develop | ||
| and implement the policies necessary to implement the changes in | ||
| law made by this Act. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. | ||
