Bill Text: TX SB1844 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the collection and reporting of certain information regarding mental health jail diversion.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-26 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB1844 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB1844-Introduced.html

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87R10388 EAS-F
By: Eckhardt S.B. No. 1844

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the collection and reporting of certain information
regarding mental health jail diversion.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Articles 2.134(b) and (c), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A law enforcement agency shall compile and analyze the
information contained in each report received by the agency under
Articles [Article] 2.133 and 2.135. Not later than March 1 of each
year, each law enforcement agency shall submit a report containing
the incident-based data compiled during the previous calendar year
to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and, if the law
enforcement agency is a local law enforcement agency, to the
governing body of each county or municipality served by the agency.
(c) A report required under Subsection (b) must be submitted
by the chief administrator of the law enforcement agency,
regardless of whether the administrator is elected, employed, or
appointed, and must include:
(1) a comparative analysis of the information compiled
under Article 2.133 to:
(A) evaluate and compare the number of motor
vehicle stops, within the applicable jurisdiction, of persons who
are recognized as racial or ethnic minorities and persons who are
not recognized as racial or ethnic minorities;
(B) examine the disposition of motor vehicle
stops made by officers employed by the agency, categorized
according to the race or ethnicity of the affected persons, as
appropriate, including any searches resulting from stops within the
applicable jurisdiction; and
(C) evaluate and compare the number of searches
resulting from motor vehicle stops within the applicable
jurisdiction and whether contraband or other evidence was
discovered in the course of those searches; [and]
(2) a comparative analysis of the information compiled
under Article 2.135 to:
(A) examine the initial reason that a peace
officer arrested a person the officer had reasonable cause to
believe is a person with a mental illness or intellectual
disability;
(B) examine discrepancies between attempted
diversions of persons with a mental illness or intellectual
disability from criminal justice involvement that were not
successful and attempted diversions that were successful; and
(C) evaluate the peace officer's use of
restraints and use of force against persons who the officer has
reasonable cause to believe are persons with a mental illness or
intellectual disability; and
(3) information relating to each complaint filed with
the agency alleging that a peace officer employed by the agency has
engaged in racial profiling.
SECTION 2. Chapter 2, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 2.135 to read as follows:
Art. 2.135. REPORTS REQUIRED FOR PERSONS WITH SUSPECTED
MENTAL ILLNESS OR INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY. (a) A peace officer who
arrests a person the peace officer has reasonable cause to believe
is a person with a mental illness or intellectual disability or
detains the person in accordance with Subchapter A, Chapter 573,
Health and Safety Code, shall report to the officer's law
enforcement agency certain information, including:
(1) a description of the person's behavior that led the
peace officer to reasonably believe that the person is a person with
a mental illness or intellectual disability, including:
(A) behavioral indications of a mental illness or
intellectual disability;
(B) verbal indications of distress by the person
or a bystander;
(C) physical injuries incurred before or during
the arrest; and
(D) any medical treatment provided during the
arrest;
(2) the initial reason for the person's arrest;
(3) whether the officer conducted a search and, if so,
whether the person consented to the search;
(4) any contraband or other evidence that was
discovered in the course of a search conducted by the officer and a
description of the contraband or evidence;
(5) the reason for a search conducted by the officer,
including whether:
(A) any contraband or other evidence was in plain
view;
(B) any probable cause or reasonable suspicion
existed to perform the search; or
(C) the search was performed as a result of:
(i) the towing of the motor vehicle; or
(ii) the arrest of any person in the motor
vehicle;
(6) whether the law enforcement agency made a good
faith effort to divert a person suffering a mental health crisis or
from the effects of substance abuse to a proper treatment center, as
described by Article 16.23;
(7) whether the officer used restraint against the
person; and
(8) whether the officer used physical force that
resulted in bodily injury, as that term is defined by Section 1.07,
Penal Code, during the stop.
(b) The arresting officer shall provide the report
described by Subsection (a) to the sheriff or municipal jailer at
the time the defendant is transferred into the custody of the
sheriff or jailer.
(c) The chief administrator of a law enforcement agency,
regardless of whether the administrator is elected, employed, or
appointed, is responsible for auditing reports under Subsection (a)
to ensure the agency complies with this article by reporting all the
required information.
SECTION 3. Section 511.0101(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Each county shall submit to the commission on or before
the fifth day of each month a report containing the following
information:
(1) the number of prisoners confined in the county
jail on the first day of the month, classified on the basis of the
following categories:
(A) total prisoners;
(B) pretrial Class C misdemeanor offenders;
(C) pretrial Class A and B misdemeanor offenders;
(D) convicted misdemeanor offenders;
(E) felony offenders whose penalty has been
reduced to a misdemeanor;
(F) pretrial felony offenders;
(G) convicted felony offenders;
(H) prisoners detained on bench warrants;
(I) prisoners detained for parole violations;
(J) prisoners detained for federal officers;
(K) prisoners awaiting transfer to the
institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
following conviction of a felony or revocation of probation,
parole, or release on mandatory supervision and for whom paperwork
and processing required for transfer have been completed;
(L) prisoners detained after having been
transferred from another jail and for whom the commission has made a
payment under Subchapter F, Chapter 499, Government Code;
(M) prisoners for whom an immigration detainer
has been issued by United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement;
(N) female prisoners; and
(O) other prisoners;
(2) the total capacity of the county jail on the first
day of the month;
(3) the total number of prisoners who were confined in
the county jail during the preceding month, based on a count
conducted on each day of that month, who were known or had been
determined to be pregnant;
(4) the total cost to the county during the preceding
month of housing prisoners described by Subdivision (1)(M),
calculated based on the average daily cost of housing a prisoner in
the county jail; [and]
(5) the following information concerning prisoners in
the county jail that the sheriff has reasonable cause to believe are
persons with a mental illness or intellectual disability:
(A) the total number of mental health or
intellectual and developmental disability screenings completed in
the jail;
(B) the total number of notifications that a
sheriff or municipal jailer provided to a magistrate, as required
by Article 16.22(a)(1), Code of Criminal Procedure;
(C) the total number of mental health or
intellectual and developmental disability interviews, as required
by Article 16.22(a)(1), Code of Criminal Procedure;
(D) the location of the interviews described by
Paragraph (C);
(E) whether the interview described by Paragraph
(C) was conducted in person in the jail, by telephone, through a
telemedicine medical service or telehealth service, or through any
other method; and
(F) the outcome of the interview described by
Paragraph (C); and
(6) certification by the reporting official that the
information in the report is accurate.
SECTION 4. Section 1701.164, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1701.164. COLLECTION OF CERTAIN INCIDENT-BASED DATA
SUBMITTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. The commission shall
collect and maintain incident-based data submitted to the
commission under Article 2.134, Code of Criminal Procedure,
including incident-based data compiled by a law enforcement agency
from reports received by the law enforcement agency under Articles
[Article] 2.133 and 2.135 of that code. The commission in
consultation with the Department of Public Safety, the Bill
Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, the W. W.
Caruth, Jr., Police Institute at Dallas, and the Texas Police
Chiefs Association shall develop guidelines for submitting in a
standard format the report containing incident-based data as
required by Article 2.134, Code of Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 5. A county shall submit the first report required
by Section 511.0101, Government Code, as amended by this Act, not
later than October 5, 2021.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.