Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB418 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		85R5552 JRR-D
2	2		By: White H.B. No. 418
3		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 418:
4		-	By: Thierry C.S.H.B. No. 418
5	3
6	4
7	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	6		AN ACT
9	7		relating to certain duties of the Commission on Jail Standards
10	8		regarding guidelines for the transportation of inmates by private
11	9		vendors.
12	10		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	11		SECTION 1. Section 511.009(a), Government Code, as amended
14	12		by Chapters 281 (H.B. 875), 648 (H.B. 549), and 688 (H.B. 634), Acts
15	13		of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted and
16	14		amended to read as follows:
17	15		(a) The commission shall:
18	16		(1) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
19	17		establishing minimum standards for the construction, equipment,
20	18		maintenance, and operation of county jails;
21	19		(2) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
22	20		establishing minimum standards for the custody, care, and treatment
23	21		of prisoners;
24	22		(3) adopt reasonable rules establishing minimum
25	23		standards for the number of jail supervisory personnel and for
26	24		programs and services to meet the needs of prisoners;
27	25		(4) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
28	26		establishing minimum requirements for programs of rehabilitation,
29	27		education, and recreation in county jails;
30	28		(5) revise, amend, or change rules and procedures if
31	29		necessary;
32	30		(6) provide to local government officials
33	31		consultation on and technical assistance for county jails;
34	32		(7) review and comment on plans for the construction
35	33		and major modification or renovation of county jails;
36	34		(8) require that the sheriff and commissioners of each
37	35		county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
38	36		commission, an annual report on the conditions in each county jail
39	37		within their jurisdiction, including all information necessary to
40	38		determine compliance with state law, commission orders, and the
41	39		rules adopted under this chapter;
42	40		(9) review the reports submitted under Subdivision (8)
43	41		and require commission employees to inspect county jails regularly
44	42		to ensure compliance with state law, commission orders, and rules
45	43		and procedures adopted under this chapter;
46	44		(10) adopt a classification system to assist sheriffs
47	45		and judges in determining which defendants are low-risk and
48	46		consequently suitable participants in a county jail work release
49	47		program under Article 42.034, Code of Criminal Procedure;
50	48		(11) adopt rules relating to requirements for
51	49		segregation of classes of inmates and to capacities for county
52	50		jails;
53	51		(12) require that the chief jailer of each municipal
54	52		lockup submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
55	53		commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
56	54		securely detained in the lockup, including all information
57	55		necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
58	56		confinement of children in municipal lockups;
59	57		(13) at least annually determine whether each county
60	58		jail is in compliance with the rules and procedures adopted under
61	59		this chapter;
62	60		(14) require that the sheriff and commissioners court
63	61		of each county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
64	62		commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
65	63		securely detained in the county jail, including all information
66	64		necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
67	65		confinement of children in county jails;
68	66		(15) schedule announced and unannounced inspections
69	67		of jails under the commission's jurisdiction using the risk
70	68		assessment plan established under Section 511.0085 to guide the
71	69		inspections process;
72	70		(16) adopt a policy for gathering and distributing to
73	71		jails under the commission's jurisdiction information regarding:
74	72		(A) common issues concerning jail
75	73		administration;
76	74		(B) examples of successful strategies for
77	75		maintaining compliance with state law and the rules, standards, and
78	76		procedures of the commission; and
79	77		(C) solutions to operational challenges for
80	78		jails;
81	79		(17) report to the Texas Correctional Office on
82	80		Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments on a jail's compliance
83	81		with Article 16.22, Code of Criminal Procedure;
84	82		(18) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
85	83		establishing minimum requirements for jails to:
86	84		(A) determine if a prisoner is pregnant; and
87	85		(B) ensure that the jail's health services plan
88	86		addresses medical and mental health care, including nutritional
89	87		requirements, and any special housing or work assignment needs for
90	88		persons who are confined in the jail and are known or determined to
91	89		be pregnant;
92	90		(19) provide guidelines to sheriffs regarding
93	91		contracts between a sheriff and another entity for the provision of
94	92		food services to or the operation of a commissary in a jail under
95	93		the commission's jurisdiction, including specific provisions
96	94		regarding conflicts of interest and avoiding the appearance of
97	95		impropriety; [and]
98	96		(20) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
99	97		establishing minimum standards for prisoner visitation that
100	98		provide each prisoner at a county jail with a minimum of two
101	99		in-person, noncontact visitation periods per week of at least 20
102	100		minutes duration each;
103	101		(21) [(20)] require the sheriff of each county to:
104	102		(A) investigate and verify the veteran status of
105	103		each prisoner by using data made available from the Veterans
106	104		Reentry Search Service (VRSS) operated by the United States
107	105		Department of Veterans Affairs or a similar service; and
108	106		(B) use the data described by Paragraph (A) to
109	107		assist prisoners who are veterans in applying for federal benefits
110	108		or compensation for which the prisoners may be eligible under a
111	109		program administered by the United States Department of Veterans
112	110		Affairs;
113	111		(22) [(20)] adopt reasonable rules and procedures
114	112		regarding visitation of a prisoner at a county jail by a guardian,
115	113		as defined by Section 1002.012, Estates Code, that:
116	114		(A) allow visitation by a guardian to the same
117	115		extent as the prisoner's next of kin, including placing the
118	116		guardian on the prisoner's approved visitors list on the guardian's
119	117		request and providing the guardian access to the prisoner during a
120	118		facility's standard visitation hours if the prisoner is otherwise
121	119		eligible to receive visitors; and
122	120		(B) require the guardian to provide the sheriff
123	121		with letters of guardianship issued as provided by Section
124	122		1106.001, Estates Code, before being allowed to visit the prisoner;
125	123		and
126	124		(23) in consultation with interested parties, adopt
127	125		reasonable rules and procedures establishing minimum guidelines
128	126		for the transportation of inmates by a private vendor other than a
129	127		private vendor that is registered with the Federal Motor Carrier
130	128		Safety Administration.
131	129		SECTION 2. The Commission on Jail Standards shall establish
132	130		the guidelines required by Section 511.009(a)(23), Government
133	131		Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2018.
134	132		SECTION 3. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
135	133		over another Act of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017,
136	134		relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
137	135		codes.
138	136		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.