By: West S.B. No. 1374
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to community-based programs for juveniles in certain
counties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 141.024, Human Resources
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall report annually to the governor and
the legislature on the commission's operations and the condition of
probation services in the state during the previous year. The
report:
(1) may include recommendations; and
(2) must include:
(A) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the
community-based programs operated under Section 54.0401, Family
Code, and the community corrections pilot programs implemented
under Section 141.087; and
(B) information comparing the cost of a child
participating in a program described by Paragraph (A) with the cost
of committing the child to the Texas Youth Commission.
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 141, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 141.087 to read as follows:
Sec. 141.087. COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS PILOT PROGRAM IN
CERTAIN COUNTIES. (a) This section applies only to a county that
has a population of at least 335,000.
(b) The commission and the Texas Youth Commission shall
establish guidelines for the implementation of community
corrections pilot programs to provide an array of rehabilitation
services for juvenile offenders, including juvenile delinquency
prevention services and substance abuse and mental health treatment
services. Instead of ordering commitment to the Texas Youth
Commission under Section 54.04(d)(2), Family Code, a juvenile court
of a county to which this section applies may require a child to
participate in a community corrections pilot program if the child
was found to have engaged in delinquent conduct that violates a
penal law of the grade of felony under Title 7, Penal Code, or
Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code.
(c) A juvenile board in a county to which this section
applies may apply to the commission for a grant to implement a
community corrections pilot program in the county.
(d) The commission, in cooperation with the Texas Youth
Commission, shall adopt rules that govern:
(1) the administration and operation of a community
corrections pilot program by a juvenile board; and
(2) the process by which a juvenile board may apply to
the commission for a grant to implement a community corrections
pilot program.
(e) A juvenile board that receives a grant under this
section receives the grant in addition to any state aid that is
otherwise allocated to the county served by the juvenile board for
the provision of juvenile probation services.
(f) A juvenile board that receives a grant under this
section shall annually, and at the request of the director, report
to the commission concerning the implementation,
cost-effectiveness, and success rate of a community corrections
pilot program implemented under this section.
(g) The commission shall, not later than January 1 of each
odd-numbered year, submit a report concerning the implementation,
cost-effectiveness, and success rates of community corrections
pilot programs implemented by juvenile boards under this section
to:
(1) the governor;
(2) the lieutenant governor;
(3) the speaker of the house of representatives; and
(4) the standing committee in the senate and the house
of representatives that has primary jurisdiction over the
commission.
(h) The report submitted under Subsection (g) must contain
recommendations as to whether any of the community corrections
pilot programs implemented by juvenile boards under this section
should be implemented on a statewide basis.
SECTION 3. (a) The Texas Juvenile Probation Commission
shall adopt rules governing the administration and operation of
community corrections pilot programs under Section 141.087, Human
Resources Code, as added by this Act, including rules governing the
process by which a juvenile board may apply to the Texas Juvenile
Probation Commission for a grant, not later than January 1, 2010.
(b) The change in law made by Section 141.087, Human
Resources Code, as added by this Act, applies only to conduct that
occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. Conduct that
occurs before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law
in effect when the conduct occurred, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this subsection,
conduct violating a penal law of this state occurred before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the violation occurred
before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.