By: Johnson, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 549
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2015;
May 13, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 22, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 22, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain duties of the Commission on Jail Standards
regarding visitation periods for county jail prisoners.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 511.009, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) to
read as follows:
(a) The commission shall:
(1) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
establishing minimum standards for the construction, equipment,
maintenance, and operation of county jails;
(2) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
establishing minimum standards for the custody, care, and treatment
of prisoners;
(3) adopt reasonable rules establishing minimum
standards for the number of jail supervisory personnel and for
programs and services to meet the needs of prisoners;
(4) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
establishing minimum requirements for programs of rehabilitation,
education, and recreation in county jails;
(5) revise, amend, or change rules and procedures if
necessary;
(6) provide to local government officials
consultation on and technical assistance for county jails;
(7) review and comment on plans for the construction
and major modification or renovation of county jails;
(8) require that the sheriff and commissioners of each
county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
commission, an annual report on the conditions in each county jail
within their jurisdiction, including all information necessary to
determine compliance with state law, commission orders, and the
rules adopted under this chapter;
(9) review the reports submitted under Subdivision (8)
and require commission employees to inspect county jails regularly
to ensure compliance with state law, commission orders, and rules
and procedures adopted under this chapter;
(10) adopt a classification system to assist sheriffs
and judges in determining which defendants are low-risk and
consequently suitable participants in a county jail work release
program under Article 42.034, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(11) adopt rules relating to requirements for
segregation of classes of inmates and to capacities for county
jails;
(12) require that the chief jailer of each municipal
lockup submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
securely detained in the lockup, including all information
necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
confinement of children in municipal lockups;
(13) at least annually determine whether each county
jail is in compliance with the rules and procedures adopted under
this chapter;
(14) require that the sheriff and commissioners court
of each county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
securely detained in the county jail, including all information
necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
confinement of children in county jails;
(15) schedule announced and unannounced inspections
of jails under the commission's jurisdiction using the risk
assessment plan established under Section 511.0085 to guide the
inspections process;
(16) adopt a policy for gathering and distributing to
jails under the commission's jurisdiction information regarding:
(A) common issues concerning jail
administration;
(B) examples of successful strategies for
maintaining compliance with state law and the rules, standards, and
procedures of the commission; and
(C) solutions to operational challenges for
jails;
(17) report to the Texas Correctional Office on
Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments on a jail's compliance
with Article 16.22, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(18) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
establishing minimum requirements for jails to:
(A) determine if a prisoner is pregnant; and
(B) ensure that the jail's health services plan
addresses medical and mental health care, including nutritional
requirements, and any special housing or work assignment needs for
persons who are confined in the jail and are known or determined to
be pregnant; [and]
(19) provide guidelines to sheriffs regarding
contracts between a sheriff and another entity for the provision of
food services to or the operation of a commissary in a jail under
the commission's jurisdiction, including specific provisions
regarding conflicts of interest and avoiding the appearance of
impropriety; and
(20) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
establishing minimum standards for prisoner visitation that
provide each prisoner at a county jail with a minimum of two
in-person, noncontact visitation periods per week of at least 20
minutes duration each.
(a-1) A county jail that as of September 1, 2015, has
incurred significant design, engineering, or construction costs to
provide prisoner visitation that does not comply with a rule or
procedure adopted under Subsection (a)(20), or does not have the
physical plant capability to provide the in-person prisoner
visitation required by a rule or procedure adopted under Subsection
(a)(20), is not required to comply with any commission rule or
procedure adopted under Subsection (a)(20).
(a-2) A commission rule or procedure adopted under
Subsection (a)(20) may not restrict the authority of a county jail
under the commission's rules in effect on September 1, 2015, to
limit prisoner visitation for disciplinary reasons.
SECTION 2. The Commission on Jail Standards shall establish
the specific standards as required by Section 511.009(a)(20),
Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
2016.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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