Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2855 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R361 JSA-D
2	2	By: Dutton H.B. No. 2855
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the inclusion of an incarcerated person in the
8	8	population data used for redistricting according to the person's
9	9	last residence before incarceration.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Chapter 2058, Government Code, is amended by
12	12	adding Sections 2058.003 and 2058.004 to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 2058.003. INCLUSION OF INCARCERATED PERSONS IN CENSUS
14	14	COUNTS. (a) Not later than the next May 1 following the date on
15	15	which the tract-level population counts for this state from the
16	16	federal decennial census are released by the director of the Bureau
17	17	of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce, the
18	18	comptroller shall prepare and disseminate adjusted population
19	19	counts for each geographic unit included in the census counts as
20	20	provided by this section.
21	21	(b) Not later than June 1 of the year in which the federal
22	22	decennial census is conducted, each state or local governmental
23	23	entity in this state that operates a facility for the incarceration
24	24	of persons convicted of a criminal offense, including a mental
25	25	health institution for those persons, or that places any person
26	26	convicted of a criminal offense in a private facility to be
27	27	incarcerated on behalf of the governmental entity, shall submit a
28	28	report to the comptroller with the following information:
29	29	(1) the name of each person incarcerated in a facility
30	30	operated by the governmental entity or in a private facility on
31	31	behalf of the governmental entity on the date for which the census
32	32	reports population who completed a census form, responded to a
33	33	census inquiry, or was included in any report provided to census
34	34	officials, if the form, response, or report indicated that the
35	35	person resided at the facility on that date;
36	36	(2) the age, gender, and race of each person included
37	37	in the report and whether the person is of Hispanic, Latino, or
38	38	Spanish origin, if known; and
39	39	(3) the last address at which the person resided
40	40	before the person's current incarceration.
41	41	(c) Each governmental entity required to make a report under
42	42	Subsection (b) shall ensure that the entity collects and maintains
43	43	the information required to make the report. The comptroller shall
44	44	prescribe procedures that a governmental entity shall use to permit
45	45	each person included in the report to indicate the person's race and
46	46	ethnicity for purposes of Subsection (b)(2) in a manner similar to
47	47	the manner in which a person not incarcerated would indicate the
48	48	person's race and ethnicity for the federal decennial census.
49	49	(d) The comptroller shall request each agency that operates
50	50	a federal facility in this state that incarcerates persons
51	51	convicted of a criminal offense to provide the comptroller with a
52	52	report including the information listed in Subsection (b) for
53	53	persons convicted of an offense in this state.
54	54	(e) For each person included in a report received under
55	55	Subsection (b) or (d), the comptroller shall determine the
56	56	geographic units for which population counts are reported in the
57	57	federal decennial census that contain the last address at which the
58	58	person resided before the person's incarceration according to the
59	59	report and, if that address is in this state:
60	60	(1) adjust all relevant population counts reported in
61	61	the census, including populations by age, gender, race, and
62	62	Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish descent, as if the person resided at
63	63	that address on the day for which the census reports population; and
64	64	(2) eliminate the person from all applicable
65	65	population counts reported in the federal decennial census for the
66	66	geographic units that include the facility at which the person was
67	67	incarcerated on the day for which the census reports population.
68	68	Sec. 2058.004. USE OF ADJUSTED CENSUS COUNTS FOR
69	69	REDISTRICTING. (a) Each political subdivision of this state that
70	70	elects any members of a governmental body from election districts,
71	71	wards, or precincts that are subject to the one-person one-vote
72	72	requirement of the Constitution of the United States shall ensure
73	73	that after redistricting each of those election districts, wards,
74	74	or precincts does not vary from the average population of those
75	75	districts, wards, or precincts according to the most recent
76	76	adjusted population counts prepared by the comptroller under
77	77	Section 2058.003 by more than five percent.
78	78	(b) A state governmental body, including the legislature,
79	79	the Legislative Redistricting Board, or any state court, that
80	80	redistricts any election districts subject to the one-person
81	81	one-vote requirement of the Constitution of the United States shall
82	82	comply with the restriction provided by Subsection (a).
83	83	(c) A governmental entity to which this section applies may
84	84	exceed the adjusted population restrictions required by this
85	85	section only to the extent necessary to comply with federal law or
86	86	the Texas Constitution.
87	87	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
88	88	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
89	89	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
90	90	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
91	91	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.