85R5960 MCK-F
By: Raney H.B. No. 2225
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the licensing of family residential centers by the
Department of Family and Protective Services and the detention of
certain juveniles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 42.0538 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.0538. FAMILY RESIDENTIAL CENTERS. (a) In this
section, "family residential center" means a facility that:
(1) is operated by or under a contract with United
States Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enforce federal
immigration laws;
(2) detains children with a parent or other adult
family member who remains with the child at the center or children
who are not accompanied by a parent or other adult family member;
and
(3) provides care for children for at least part of a
day.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the department
shall license a family residential center in the same manner as the
department licenses a general residential operation under this
chapter.
(c) The executive commissioner may exempt a family
residential center from any rule applicable to a general
residential operation as the executive commissioner determines
necessary to:
(1) allow members of a family to remain together in the
same living space;
(2) allow a child's parent or other adult family member
who is housed with the child to supervise and care for the child at
the family residential center; or
(3) operate the family residential center.
(d) The department's licensing and oversight of family
residential centers is consistent with the purposes of this
chapter. This section does not authorize this state to enforce
federal immigration law.
SECTION 2. Section 54.011, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
follows:
(f) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (a) and
(g), a nonoffender[, including a person who has been taken into
custody and is being held solely for deportation out of the United
States,] may not be detained for any period of time in a secure
detention facility or secure correctional facility, regardless of
whether the facility is publicly or privately operated. A
nonoffender who is detained in violation of this subsection is
entitled to immediate release from the facility and may bring a
civil action for compensation for the illegal detention against any
person responsible for the detention. A person commits an offense
if the person knowingly detains or assists in detaining a
nonoffender in a secure detention facility or secure correctional
facility in violation of this subsection. An offense under this
subsection is a Class B misdemeanor.
(g) Notwithstanding any other law, a status offender or
nonoffender who has been taken into custody may be held solely for
deportation out of the United States for any period of time in a
publicly or privately operated, licensed, nonsecure facility,
including a family residential center, as defined by Section
42.0538, Human Resources Code.
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 September 1, 2017.