By: Hinojosa, RodrÃguez S.B. No. 578
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing inmates of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice with information regarding reentry and reintegration
resources.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 501.0971 to read as follows:
Sec. 501.0971. PROVISION OF REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION
INFORMATION TO INMATES. (a) The department shall identify
organizations that provide reentry and reintegration resource
guides and shall collaborate with those organizations to make the
resource guides available to all inmates. At a minimum, the
department shall collaborate with:
(1) nonprofit entities that specialize in criminal
justice issues;
(2) faith-based organizations; and
(3) organizations that:
(A) offer pro bono legal services to inmates; or
(B) are composed of the families and friends of
inmates.
(b) The department shall make the resource guides available
in the Windham School District libraries and in each of the
following areas of a correctional facility:
(1) law libraries;
(2) peer educator classrooms;
(3) chapels;
(4) reintegration specialist offices; and
(5) any area or classroom that is used by the
department for the purpose of providing information about reentry
to inmates.
(c) The department shall make available a sufficient number
of copies of the resource guides to ensure that each inmate is able
to access a resource guide in a timely manner.
(d) The department shall identify organizations described
by Subsection (a) that provide information described by Subsection
(e) and shall collaborate with those organizations to compile
county-specific information packets for inmates. The department
shall:
(1) within the 180-day period preceding the date an
inmate is released on parole, mandatory supervision, or conditional
pardon, provide the inmate with a county-specific information
packet for the county that the inmate designates as the inmate's
intended residence; and
(2) within the 180-day period preceding the date an
inmate will discharge the inmate's sentence, provide the inmate
with a county-specific information packet for Bexar, Dallas, El
Paso, Harris, Nueces, Tarrant, and Travis Counties and any other
county that the inmate may designate as the inmate's intended
residence.
(e) At the minimum, a county-specific packet described by
Subsection (d) must include, for the applicable county:
(1) contact information, including telephone numbers,
e-mail addresses, physical locations, and mailing addresses, as
applicable, of:
(A) workforce offices, housing options, places
of worship, support groups, peer-to-peer counseling groups, and
other relevant organizations or agencies as determined by the
department and the collaborating organization;
(B) agencies and organizations that offer
emergency assistance, such as food and clothing banks, temporary
bus passes, low-cost medical assistance, and overnight and
temporary housing; and
(C) agencies and organizations that offer mental
health counseling; and
(2) information necessary for the inmate to apply for
governmental assistance or benefits, including Medicaid, social
security benefits, or nutritional assistance programs under
Chapter 33, Human Resources Code.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.