81R7939 KCR-D
By: Carona S.B. No. 1509
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Correctional Facility Capacity Commission.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle G, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 512 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 512. CORRECTIONAL FACILITY CAPACITY COMMISSION
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
Sec. 512.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Commission" means the Correctional Facility
Capacity Commission.
(2) "Correctional facility" means:
(A) any place described by Section 1.07(14),
Penal Code; and
(B) a secure detention facility or secure
correctional facility, as defined by Section 51.02, Family Code.
Sec. 512.002. SUNSET PROVISION. The Correctional Facility
Capacity Commission is subject to Chapter 325 (Texas Sunset Act).
Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the
commission is abolished and this chapter expires September 1, 2021.
Sec. 512.003. ADMINISTRATIVE ATTACHMENT. The commission is
administratively attached to the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice.
Sec. 512.004. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION. (a) The
commission is composed of 20 members as follows:
(1) 15 public members appointed as follows:
(A) five public members appointed by the
governor;
(B) five public members appointed by the
lieutenant governor; and
(C) five public members appointed by the speaker
of the house of representatives; and
(2) five ex officio members as follows:
(A) the executive director of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice;
(B) the executive commissioner of the Texas Youth
Commission;
(C) the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court;
(D) the president of the Texas Police Chiefs
Association; and
(E) the president of the Sheriffs' Association of
Texas.
(b) The speaker of the house of representatives shall
designate a member of the house and the lieutenant governor shall
designate a member of the senate to advise the commission.
Sec. 512.005. PUBLIC MEMBERS: ELIGIBILITY; APPOINTMENT;
VACANCY. (a) A person appointed as a public member of the
commission must be a resident of this state.
(b) Public members of the commission must include:
(1) persons who have served prominently as leaders of
or spokespersons for public or private organizations that advocate
for or on behalf of individuals confined in a correctional facility
in this state; and
(2) persons who have significant professional
experience in the fields of criminal justice, statistics, and
demographics.
(c) Appointments of public members to the commission shall
be made:
(1) without regard to the race, color, disability,
sex, religion, age, or national origin of an appointee; and
(2) so that each geographic area of this state is
represented on the commission.
(d) The original appointing authority shall fill any
vacancy in an appointed position on the commission for the
unexpired portion of the term.
Sec. 512.006. EX OFFICIO MEMBERS: ELIGIBILITY; DESIGNATION
OF REPRESENTATIVE. (a) An ex officio member of the commission
vacates the person's position on the commission if the person
ceases to hold the position that qualifies the person for service on
the commission.
(b) An ex officio member may designate a representative to
serve on the commission in the member's absence. A representative
designated under this subsection must be an officer or employee of
the state agency or entity that employs the ex officio member.
Sec. 512.007. REMOVAL OF PUBLIC MEMBER. (a) It is a ground
for removal of a public member from the commission if the member:
(1) is ineligible for public membership under Section
512.005(a);
(2) cannot because of illness or disability discharge
the member's duties for a substantial part of the term for which the
member is appointed; or
(3) is absent from more than three consecutive
regularly scheduled commission meetings that the member is eligible
to attend during a calendar year unless the absence is excused by
majority vote of the commission.
(b) The validity of an action of the commission is not
affected by the fact that it is taken when a ground for removal of a
commission member exists.
(c) If a member of the commission has knowledge that a
potential ground for removal exists, the member shall notify the
presiding officer of the commission of the potential ground. The
presiding officer shall then notify the governor and the attorney
general that a potential ground for removal exists.
Sec. 512.008. TERM OF PUBLIC MEMBER. (a) A public member
of the commission serves a term of four years.
(b) A public member is eligible for reappointment to another
term or part of a term.
(c) A public member may not serve more than two consecutive
terms. For purposes of this prohibition, a member is considered to
have served a term only if the member has served more than half of
the term.
Sec. 512.009. OFFICERS; SUBCOMMITTEES. (a) The governor
shall designate a public member of the commission as presiding
officer to serve in that capacity at the pleasure of the governor.
(b) The presiding officer of the commission may appoint a
subcommittee for any purpose consistent with the duties of the
commission under this chapter.
Sec. 512.010. COMPENSATION; EXPENSES. (a) A public member
of the commission and an ex officio member of the commission that is
not employed by an agency or an entity of this state is not entitled
to compensation but is entitled to reimbursement for the travel
expenses incurred by the member while transacting commission
business, as provided by the General Appropriations Act.
(b) For an ex officio member employed by an agency or an
entity of this state, the member's service on the commission is an
additional duty of the underlying position that qualifies the
member for service on the commission. The entitlement of the ex
officio member to compensation or to reimbursement for travel
expenses incurred while transacting commission business is
governed by the law that applies to the member's service in that
underlying position, and any payment to the member for either
purpose must be made from money that may be used for the purpose and
is available to the agency or entity of this state that the member
serves in that underlying position.
Sec. 512.011. MEETINGS; QUORUM; VOTING; PUBLIC ACCESS. (a)
The commission shall meet at least quarterly at the times and places
in this state that the commission designates.
(b) Eight voting members of the commission constitute a
quorum for transacting commission business.
(c) An ex officio member of the commission may not vote on
commission business.
(d) The commission shall develop and implement policies
that provide the public with a reasonable opportunity to appear
before the commission and speak on any issue under the jurisdiction
of the commission.
Sec. 512.012. COORDINATOR. The Texas Department of
Criminal Justice shall provide one part-time employee to serve as
the coordinator for the commission to transact commission business.
[Sections 512.013-512.050 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES; FUNDING
Sec. 512.051. ADVISORY STATUS OF COMMISSION. (a) In
implementing its powers and duties under this chapter, the
commission functions only in an advisory capacity. Membership on
the commission does not constitute a public office.
(b) Chapter 2110 does not apply to the commission.
Sec. 512.052. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSION. (a)
The commission shall:
(1) analyze the most recent available census
information regarding projected population growth in this state and
any attendant projected increase in the crime rate in this state;
(2) examine the current capacity of all correctional
facilities in this state; and
(3) make recommendations concerning whether to
increase, decrease, or maintain at the same level the number of
correctional facility beds in this state over the 10-year period
following the date of a report issued under Subsection (b).
(b) The commission shall issue a report containing the
information described by Subsection (a) not later than the first
anniversary of the date the population of this state reaches 29
million and the first anniversary of each later date the population
of this state increases by 5 million. The commission shall deliver
the report to:
(1) the governor;
(2) the lieutenant governor;
(3) the speaker of the house of representatives; and
(4) the standing committees of the senate and house of
representatives with primary jurisdiction over correctional
facilities in this state.
(c) The commission shall adopt rules as necessary for its
own procedures.
(d) The commission may appoint advisory committees to
advise the commission.
Sec. 512.053. FUNDING. (a) The commission may accept gifts
and grants from a public or private source for the commission to use
in performing the commission's powers and duties under this
chapter.
(b) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice may provide
staff and may support functions and activities of the commission
from money available to the department that may be used for this
purpose. The legislature may also specifically appropriate money
to the department to provide staff and to otherwise support
functions and activities of the commission.
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, appointments of public members shall be made to the
Correctional Facility Capacity Commission as provided by Chapter
512, Government Code, as added by this Act. Notwithstanding
Section 512.008, Government Code, as added by this Act, the terms of
initial public members appointed to the Correctional Facility
Capacity Commission expire February 1, 2015.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.