82R10819 PEP-F
By: Thompson H.B. No. 3538
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the release of certain inmates on medically recommended
intensive supervision or on super-intensive supervision parole.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 508, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 508.1451 and 508.1459 to read as
follows:
Sec. 508.1451. MANDATORY RELEASE OF CERTAIN ELDERLY
INMATES. (a) For purposes of this section, "elderly inmate" means
an inmate who is 55 years of age or older.
(b)(1) Not later than an elderly inmate's initial parole
eligibility date computed under Section 508.145, a parole panel
shall order the release of the inmate on super-intensive
supervision parole under Section 508.317.
(2) This subsection does not apply to an elderly
inmate who is:
(A) serving a sentence for an offense described
by Section 508.145(a);
(B) serving a sentence for an offense described
by Section 3g(a), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(C) serving a sentence for an offense under
Section 21.12, Penal Code; or
(D) described by Subsection (c).
(c) A parole panel may not release an otherwise eligible
elderly inmate under this section if the inmate is the subject of
major disciplinary action within the 60-day period preceding the
inmate's scheduled release date.
(d) The board shall adopt a policy establishing the date on
which a parole panel may reconsider for release an elderly inmate
who has previously been denied release under Subsection (c). The
policy must require the parole panel to at least annually
reconsider the elderly inmate for release as soon as practicable
after each anniversary of the date of denial.
Sec. 508.1459. MANDATORY RELEASE OF CERTAIN INMATES ON
MEDICALLY RECOMMENDED INTENSIVE SUPERVISION. (a) A parole panel
shall release on medically recommended intensive supervision any
inmate other than an inmate who is serving a sentence of death or
life without parole, regardless of the inmate's initial parole
eligibility date computed under Section 508.145, if on the basis of
a medical examination approved by at least two physicians the Texas
Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments
identifies the inmate as:
(1) being terminally ill;
(2) having a condition requiring long-term care;
(3) being in a persistent vegetative state; or
(4) having an organic brain syndrome with significant
to total mobility impairment.
(b) Before releasing an inmate under Subsection (a), the
Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental
Impairments, in cooperation with the department, shall prepare for
the inmate a medically recommended supervision plan that requires
the inmate to submit to electronic monitoring, places the inmate on
super-intensive supervision, or otherwise ensures appropriate
supervision of the inmate.
(c) A parole panel releasing an inmate under Subsection (a)
shall require as a condition of release that the releasee remain
under the care of a physician and in a medically suitable placement.
At least once each calendar quarter, the Texas Correctional Office
on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments shall report to the
parole panel on the releasee's medical and placement status. On the
basis of the report, the parole panel may modify conditions of
release and impose any condition on the releasee that the panel
could impose on a releasee released under Section 508.145.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 508.146, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 508.146. DISCRETIONARY RELEASE OF CERTAIN INMATES ON
MEDICALLY RECOMMENDED INTENSIVE SUPERVISION.
SECTION 3. Sections 508.146(a), (b), and (e), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) An inmate other than an inmate who is serving a sentence
of death or life without parole may be released on medically
recommended intensive supervision on a date designated by a parole
panel described by Subsection (e)[, except that an inmate with an
instant offense that is an offense described in Section 3g, Article
42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or an inmate who has a reportable
conviction or adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, may only be considered if a medical condition of
terminal illness or long-term care has been diagnosed by a
physician,] if:
(1) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with
Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the Correctional
Managed Health Care Committee, identifies the inmate as [being]:
(A) being 55 years of age or older;
(B) having a physical disability; or
(C) being a person with a mental illness or
mental retardation [elderly, physically disabled, mentally ill,
terminally ill, or mentally retarded or having a condition
requiring long-term care, if the inmate is an inmate with an instant
offense that is described in Section 3g, Article 42.12, Code of
Criminal Procedure; or
[(B) in a persistent vegetative state or being a
person with an organic brain syndrome with significant to total
mobility impairment, if the inmate is an inmate who has a reportable
conviction or adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure];
(2) the suitability of the inmate for release on
medically recommended intensive supervision, based on a medical
examination of the inmate, has been approved by a panel of at least
two physicians;
(3) the parole panel determines that, based on the
inmate's condition and a medical evaluation, the inmate does not
constitute a threat to public safety; and
(4) [(3)] the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders
with Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the
department [pardons and paroles division], has prepared for the
inmate a medically recommended intensive supervision plan that
requires the inmate to submit to electronic monitoring, places the
inmate on super-intensive supervision, or otherwise ensures
appropriate supervision of the inmate.
(b) An inmate may be released on medically recommended
intensive supervision only if the inmate's medically recommended
intensive supervision plan under Subsection (a)(4) [(a)(3)] is
approved by the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical
or Mental Impairments.
(e) Only parole panels composed of the presiding officer of
the board and two members appointed to the panel by the presiding
officer may make determinations regarding the release of inmates on
medically recommended intensive supervision under Subsection (a)
or of inmates released pending deportation. If the Texas Council on
Offenders with Mental Impairments identifies an inmate as a
candidate for release under the guidelines established by
Subsection (a) [(a)(1)], the council shall present to a parole
panel described by this subsection relevant information concerning
the inmate and the inmate's potential for release under this
section.
SECTION 4. Not later than January 1, 2012, the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice shall release on supervision:
(1) any elderly inmate eligible for release under
Section 508.1451, Government Code, as added by this Act, with
respect to whom a parole panel has not denied release on parole
under that section; and
(2) any inmate identified for release under Section
508.1459, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 5. Section 508.146, Government Code, as amended by
this Act, applies to the release of an inmate under that section on
or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of when the
offense for which the inmate is serving a sentence was committed.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.