Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1215 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R6868 JRJ-D
2	2	By: Johnson of Dallas H.B. No. 1215
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the inclusion of an incarcerated person in the
8	8	population data used for redistricting according to the person's
9	9	last residence before incarceration.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 2058.002, Government Code, is amended to
12	12	read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 2058.002. EXCEPTIONS. (a) The legislature or the
14	14	Legislative Redistricting Board under Article III, Section 28, of
15	15	the Texas Constitution may officially recognize or act on a federal
16	16	decennial census as adjusted under Section 2058.003 before
17	17	September 1 of the year after the calendar year during which the
18	18	census was taken.
19	19	(b) A political subdivision governed by a body elected from
20	20	single-member districts may recognize and act on tabulations of
21	21	population of a federal decennial census as adjusted under Section
22	22	2058.003, for redistricting purposes, as soon as those adjusted
23	23	tabulations become available [on or after the date the governor
24	24	receives a report of the basic tabulations of population from the
25	25	secretary of commerce under 13 U.S.C. Section 141(c)]. This
26	26	subsection does not apply to a political subdivision that was not
27	27	subject to a statute requiring certain political subdivisions,
28	28	classified by population, to elect their governing bodies from
29	29	single-member districts under the preceding federal census.
30	30	SECTION 2. Chapter 2058, Government Code, is amended by
31	31	adding Sections 2058.003 and 2058.004 to read as follows:
32	32	Sec. 2058.003. INCLUSION OF INCARCERATED PERSONS IN CENSUS
33	33	COUNTS. (a) Not later than the next May 1 following the date on
34	34	which the tract-level population counts for this state from the
35	35	federal decennial census are released by the director of the Bureau
36	36	of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce, the
37	37	comptroller shall prepare and disseminate adjusted population
38	38	counts for each geographic unit included in the census counts as
39	39	provided by this section.
40	40	(b) Not later than June 1 of the year in which the federal
41	41	decennial census is conducted, each state or local governmental
42	42	entity in this state that operates a facility for the incarceration
43	43	of persons convicted of a criminal offense, including a mental
44	44	health institution for those persons, or that places any person
45	45	convicted of a criminal offense in a private facility to be
46	46	incarcerated on behalf of the governmental entity, shall submit a
47	47	report to the comptroller with the following information:
48	48	(1) a unique identifier, not including the name, for
49	49	each person incarcerated in a facility operated by the governmental
50	50	entity or in a private facility on behalf of the governmental entity
51	51	on the date for which the census reports population who completed a
52	52	census form, responded to a census inquiry, or was included in any
53	53	report provided to census officials, if the form, response, or
54	54	report indicated that the person resided at the facility on that
55	55	date;
56	56	(2) the age, gender, and race of each person included
57	57	in the report and whether the person is of Hispanic, Latino, or
58	58	Spanish origin, if known; and
59	59	(3) the last address at which the person resided
60	60	before the person's current incarceration.
61	61	(c) Each governmental entity required to make a report under
62	62	Subsection (b) shall ensure that the entity collects and maintains
63	63	the information required to make the report. The comptroller shall
64	64	prescribe procedures that a governmental entity shall use to permit
65	65	each person included in the report to indicate the person's race and
66	66	ethnicity for purposes of Subsection (b)(2) in a manner similar to
67	67	the manner in which a person not incarcerated would indicate the
68	68	person's race and ethnicity for the federal decennial census.
69	69	(d) The comptroller shall request each agency that operates
70	70	a federal facility in this state that incarcerates persons
71	71	convicted of a criminal offense to provide the comptroller with a
72	72	report including the information listed in Subsection (b) for
73	73	persons convicted of an offense in this state.
74	74	(e) For each person included in a report received under
75	75	Subsection (b) or (d), the comptroller shall determine the
76	76	geographic units for which population counts are reported in the
77	77	federal decennial census that contain the last address at which the
78	78	person resided before the person's incarceration according to the
79	79	report and, if that address is in this state:
80	80	(1) adjust all relevant population counts reported in
81	81	the census, including populations by age, gender, race, and
82	82	Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin, as if the person resided at
83	83	that address on the day for which the census reports population; and
84	84	(2) eliminate the person from all applicable
85	85	population counts reported in the federal decennial census for the
86	86	geographic units that include the facility at which the person was
87	87	incarcerated on the day for which the census reports population.
88	88	(f) The information required to be included in a report
89	89	under Subsection (b) or (d) is confidential and not subject to
90	90	required disclosure under Chapter 552. This subsection does not
91	91	apply to information aggregated by geographic census unit that does
92	92	not disclose the address of or other information that might
93	93	identify an individual.
94	94	Sec. 2058.004. USE OF ADJUSTED CENSUS COUNTS FOR
95	95	REDISTRICTING. (a) Each political subdivision of this state that
96	96	elects any members of a governmental body from election districts,
97	97	wards, or precincts that are subject to the one-person, one-vote
98	98	requirement of the Constitution of the United States shall ensure
99	99	that after redistricting each of those election districts, wards,
100	100	or precincts does not vary from the average population of those
101	101	districts, wards, or precincts according to the most recent
102	102	adjusted population counts prepared by the comptroller under
103	103	Section 2058.003 by more than five percent.
104	104	(b) A state governmental body, including the legislature,
105	105	the Legislative Redistricting Board, or any state court, that
106	106	redistricts any election districts subject to the one-person,
107	107	one-vote requirement of the Constitution of the United States shall
108	108	comply with the restriction provided by Subsection (a).
109	109	(c) A governmental entity to which this section applies may
110	110	exceed the adjusted population restrictions required by this
111	111	section only to the extent necessary to comply with federal law or
112	112	the Texas Constitution.
113	113	(d) This section does not apply to any political subdivision
114	114	or state governmental body before the comptroller makes the initial
115	115	adjustment of census counts for the 2020 federal decennial census.
116	116	This subsection expires January 1, 2022.
117	117	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
118	118	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
119	119	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
120	120	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
121	121	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.