86R1778 GCB-F
 
  By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 562
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the delivery of certain mental health information
  regarding a defendant transferred from a county to the custody of
  the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the commitment of certain
  defendants for competency restoration, and the use of
  telepsychiatry in determining whether a defendant is manifestly
  dangerous before commitment.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 8(a), Article 42.09, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A county that transfers a defendant to the Texas
  Department of Criminal Justice under this article shall deliver to
  an officer designated by the department:
               (1)  a copy of the judgment entered pursuant to Article
  42.01, completed on a standardized felony judgment form described
  by Section 4 of that article;
               (2)  a copy of any order revoking community supervision
  and imposing sentence pursuant to Article 42A.755, including:
                     (A)  any amounts owed for restitution, fines, and
  court costs, completed on a standardized felony judgment form
  described by Section 4, Article 42.01; and
                     (B)  a copy of the client supervision plan
  prepared for the defendant by the community supervision and
  corrections department supervising the defendant, if such a plan
  was prepared;
               (3)  a written report that states the nature and the
  seriousness of each offense and that states the citation to the
  provision or provisions of the Penal Code or other law under which
  the defendant was convicted;
               (4)  a copy of the victim impact statement, if one has
  been prepared in the case under Article 56.03;
               (5)  a statement as to whether there was a change in
  venue in the case and, if so, the names of the county prosecuting
  the offense and the county in which the case was tried;
               (6)  if requested, information regarding the criminal
  history of the defendant, including the defendant's state
  identification number if the number has been issued;
               (7)  a copy of the indictment or information for each
  offense;
               (8)  a checklist sent by the department to the county
  and completed by the county in a manner indicating that the
  documents required by this subsection and Subsection (c) accompany
  the defendant;
               (9)  if prepared, a copy of a presentence or
  postsentence report prepared under Subchapter F, Chapter 42A;
               (10)  a copy of any detainer, issued by an agency of the
  federal government, that is in the possession of the county and that
  has been placed on the defendant;
               (11)  if prepared, a copy of the defendant's Texas
  Uniform Health Status Update Form; [and]
               (12)  a written description of a hold or warrant,
  issued by any other jurisdiction, that the county is aware of and
  that has been placed on or issued for the defendant; and
               (13)  a copy of any mental health records, mental
  health screening reports, or similar information regarding the
  mental health of the defendant.
         SECTION 2.  Articles 46B.073(c) and (d), Code of Criminal
  Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
         (c)  If the defendant is charged with an offense listed in
  Article 17.032(a), other than an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1),
  Penal Code, or the indictment alleges an affirmative finding under
  Article 42A.054(c) or (d), the court may [shall] enter an order
  committing the defendant for competency restoration services to the
  maximum security unit of any facility designated by the Department
  of State Health Services, to an agency of the United States
  operating a mental hospital, or to a Department of Veterans Affairs
  hospital.  The court may base its decision whether to commit the
  defendant to a facility described by this subsection on a
  determination made by a review board established under Article
  46B.105(b) that the defendant is manifestly dangerous. The court
  may request that the review board make a determination of whether
  the defendant is manifestly dangerous in the manner provided by
  Article 46B.105(b-1), including by assessing the defendant through
  telepsychiatry.  If the court requests a review board to make a
  recommendation under this subsection, Article 46B.105(e) does not
  apply to the determination made by the review board and the review
  board shall provide its determination directly to the court.
         (d)  The court shall enter an order committing a defendant to
  whom this article applies and who is not committed to a facility [If
  the defendant is not charged with an offense] described by
  Subsection (c) [and the indictment does not allege an affirmative
  finding under Article 42A.054(c) or (d), the court shall enter an
  order committing the defendant] to a mental health facility or
  residential care facility determined to be appropriate by the local
  mental health authority or local intellectual and developmental
  disability authority or to a jail-based competency restoration
  program.  A defendant may be committed to a jail-based competency
  restoration program only if the program provider determines the
  defendant will begin to receive competency restoration services
  within 72 hours of arriving at the program.
         SECTION 3.  Article 46B.105, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
         (b-1)  A review board established under Subsection (b) may
  make a determination of whether a defendant is manifestly dangerous
  by assessing the defendant through telepsychiatry and by reviewing
  appropriate records necessary for an assessment of the danger the
  defendant presents, as provided by rules adopted for that purpose
  by the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services
  Commission.  In this subsection, "telepsychiatry" means the
  practice of psychiatry, including conducting a psychiatric
  evaluation, through videoconferencing or similar technology that
  allows a psychiatrist to interact with another person without being
  present at the same location as that person.
         SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act to Article
  46B.073, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies to an order for
  commitment entered under that article on or after the effective
  date of this Act, regardless of when the offense with which the
  defendant is charged was committed.
         SECTION 5.  As soon as practicable after the effective date
  of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
  Services Commission shall adopt or amend rules regarding a
  determination of whether a defendant is manifestly dangerous as
  necessary to conform with the changes in law made by this Act to
  Articles 46B.073 and 46B.105, Code of Criminal Procedure.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.