83S10219 JRJ-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 46
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the inclusion of an incarcerated person in the
population data used for redistricting according to the person's
last residence before incarceration.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2058.002, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2058.002. EXCEPTIONS. (a) The legislature or the
Legislative Redistricting Board under Article III, Section 28, of
the Texas Constitution may officially recognize or act on a federal
decennial census as adjusted under Section 2058.003 before
September 1 of the year after the calendar year during which the
census was taken.
(b) A political subdivision governed by a body elected from
single-member districts may recognize and act on tabulations of
population of a federal decennial census as adjusted under Section
2058.003, for redistricting purposes, as soon as those adjusted
tabulations become available [on or after the date the governor
receives a report of the basic tabulations of population from the
secretary of commerce under 13 U.S.C. Section 141(c)]. This
subsection does not apply to a political subdivision that was not
subject to a statute requiring certain political subdivisions,
classified by population, to elect their governing bodies from
single-member districts under the preceding federal census.
SECTION 2. Chapter 2058, Government Code, is amended by
adding Sections 2058.003 and 2058.004 to read as follows:
Sec. 2058.003. INCLUSION OF INCARCERATED PERSONS IN CENSUS
COUNTS. (a) Not later than the next May 1 following the date on
which the tract-level population counts for this state from the
federal decennial census are released by the director of the Bureau
of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce, the
comptroller shall prepare and disseminate adjusted population
counts for each geographic unit included in the census counts as
provided by this section.
(b) Not later than June 1 of the year in which the federal
decennial census is conducted, each state or local governmental
entity in this state that operates a facility for the incarceration
of persons convicted of a criminal offense, including a mental
health institution for those persons, or that places any person
convicted of a criminal offense in a private facility to be
incarcerated on behalf of the governmental entity, shall submit a
report to the comptroller with the following information:
(1) a unique identifier, not including the name, for
each person incarcerated in a facility operated by the governmental
entity or in a private facility on behalf of the governmental entity
on the date for which the census reports population who completed a
census form, responded to a census inquiry, or was included in any
report provided to census officials, if the form, response, or
report indicated that the person resided at the facility on that
date;
(2) the age, gender, and race of each person included
in the report and whether the person is of Hispanic, Latino, or
Spanish origin, if known; and
(3) the last address at which the person resided
before the person's current incarceration.
(c) Each governmental entity required to make a report under
Subsection (b) shall ensure that the entity collects and maintains
the information required to make the report. The comptroller shall
prescribe procedures that a governmental entity shall use to permit
each person included in the report to indicate the person's race and
ethnicity for purposes of Subsection (b)(2) in a manner similar to
the manner in which a person not incarcerated would indicate the
person's race and ethnicity for the federal decennial census.
(d) The comptroller shall request each agency that operates
a federal facility in this state that incarcerates persons
convicted of a criminal offense to provide the comptroller with a
report including the information listed in Subsection (b) for
persons convicted of an offense in this state.
(e) For each person included in a report received under
Subsection (b) or (d), the comptroller shall determine the
geographic units for which population counts are reported in the
federal decennial census that contain the last address at which the
person resided before the person's incarceration according to the
report and, if that address is in this state:
(1) adjust all relevant population counts reported in
the census, including populations by age, gender, race, and
Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin, as if the person resided at
that address on the day for which the census reports population; and
(2) eliminate the person from all applicable
population counts reported in the federal decennial census for the
geographic units that include the facility at which the person was
incarcerated on the day for which the census reports population.
(f) The information required to be included in a report
under Subsection (b) or (d) is confidential and not subject to
required disclosure under Chapter 552. This subsection does not
apply to information aggregated by geographic census unit that does
not disclose the address of or other information that might
identify an individual.
Sec. 2058.004. USE OF ADJUSTED CENSUS COUNTS FOR
REDISTRICTING. (a) Each political subdivision of this state that
elects any members of a governmental body from election districts,
wards, or precincts that are subject to the one-person, one-vote
requirement of the Constitution of the United States shall ensure
that after redistricting each of those election districts, wards,
or precincts does not vary from the average population of those
districts, wards, or precincts according to the most recent
adjusted population counts prepared by the comptroller under
Section 2058.003 by more than five percent.
(b) A state governmental body, including the legislature,
the Legislative Redistricting Board, or any state court, that
redistricts any election districts subject to the one-person,
one-vote requirement of the Constitution of the United States shall
comply with the restriction provided by Subsection (a).
(c) A governmental entity to which this section applies may
exceed the adjusted population restrictions required by this
section only to the extent necessary to comply with federal law or
the Texas Constitution.
(d) This section does not apply to any political subdivision
or state governmental body before the comptroller makes the initial
adjustment of census counts for the 2020 federal decennial census.
This subsection expires January 1, 2022.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
legislative session.