Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4259 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R10574 MAW-D
2	2	By: Blanco H.B. No. 4259
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to training and standards applicable to the confinement of
8	8	a female prisoner having a mental illness.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 511.009(a), Government Code, as amended
11	11	by Chapters 281 (H.B. 875), 648 (H.B. 549), and 688 (H.B. 634), Acts
12	12	of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted and
13	13	amended to read as follows:
14	14	(a) The commission shall:
15	15	(1) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
16	16	establishing minimum standards for the construction, equipment,
17	17	maintenance, and operation of county jails;
18	18	(2) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
19	19	establishing minimum standards for the custody, care, and treatment
20	20	of prisoners;
21	21	(3) adopt reasonable rules establishing minimum
22	22	standards for the number of jail supervisory personnel and for
23	23	programs and services to meet the needs of prisoners;
24	24	(4) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
25	25	establishing minimum requirements for programs of rehabilitation,
26	26	education, and recreation in county jails;
27	27	(5) revise, amend, or change rules and procedures if
28	28	necessary;
29	29	(6) provide to local government officials
30	30	consultation on and technical assistance for county jails;
31	31	(7) review and comment on plans for the construction
32	32	and major modification or renovation of county jails;
33	33	(8) require that the sheriff and commissioners of each
34	34	county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
35	35	commission, an annual report on the conditions in each county jail
36	36	within their jurisdiction, including all information necessary to
37	37	determine compliance with state law, commission orders, and the
38	38	rules adopted under this chapter;
39	39	(9) review the reports submitted under Subdivision (8)
40	40	and require commission employees to inspect county jails regularly
41	41	to ensure compliance with state law, commission orders, and rules
42	42	and procedures adopted under this chapter;
43	43	(10) adopt a classification system to assist sheriffs
44	44	and judges in determining which defendants are low-risk and
45	45	consequently suitable participants in a county jail work release
46	46	program under Article 42.034, Code of Criminal Procedure;
47	47	(11) adopt rules relating to requirements for
48	48	segregation of classes of inmates and to capacities for county
49	49	jails;
50	50	(12) require that the chief jailer of each municipal
51	51	lockup submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
52	52	commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
53	53	securely detained in the lockup, including all information
54	54	necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
55	55	confinement of children in municipal lockups;
56	56	(13) at least annually determine whether each county
57	57	jail is in compliance with the rules and procedures adopted under
58	58	this chapter;
59	59	(14) require that the sheriff and commissioners court
60	60	of each county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
61	61	commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
62	62	securely detained in the county jail, including all information
63	63	necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
64	64	confinement of children in county jails;
65	65	(15) schedule announced and unannounced inspections
66	66	of jails under the commission's jurisdiction using the risk
67	67	assessment plan established under Section 511.0085 to guide the
68	68	inspections process;
69	69	(16) adopt a policy for gathering and distributing to
70	70	jails under the commission's jurisdiction information regarding:
71	71	(A) common issues concerning jail
72	72	administration;
73	73	(B) examples of successful strategies for
74	74	maintaining compliance with state law and the rules, standards, and
75	75	procedures of the commission; and
76	76	(C) solutions to operational challenges for
77	77	jails;
78	78	(17) report to the Texas Correctional Office on
79	79	Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments on a jail's compliance
80	80	with Article 16.22, Code of Criminal Procedure;
81	81	(18) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
82	82	establishing minimum requirements for jails to:
83	83	(A) determine if a prisoner is pregnant; and
84	84	(B) ensure that the jail's health services plan
85	85	addresses medical and mental health care, including nutritional
86	86	requirements, and any special housing or work assignment needs for
87	87	persons who are confined in the jail and are known or determined to
88	88	be pregnant;
89	89	(19) provide guidelines to sheriffs regarding
90	90	contracts between a sheriff and another entity for the provision of
91	91	food services to or the operation of a commissary in a jail under
92	92	the commission's jurisdiction, including specific provisions
93	93	regarding conflicts of interest and avoiding the appearance of
94	94	impropriety; [and]
95	95	(20) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
96	96	establishing minimum standards for prisoner visitation that
97	97	provide each prisoner at a county jail with a minimum of two
98	98	in-person, noncontact visitation periods per week of at least 20
99	99	minutes duration each;
100	100	(21) [(20)] require the sheriff of each county to:
101	101	(A) investigate and verify the veteran status of
102	102	each prisoner by using data made available from the Veterans
103	103	Reentry Search Service (VRSS) operated by the United States
104	104	Department of Veterans Affairs or a similar service; and
105	105	(B) use the data described by Paragraph (A) to
106	106	assist prisoners who are veterans in applying for federal benefits
107	107	or compensation for which the prisoners may be eligible under a
108	108	program administered by the United States Department of Veterans
109	109	Affairs;
110	110	(22) [(20)] adopt reasonable rules and procedures
111	111	regarding visitation of a prisoner at a county jail by a guardian,
112	112	as defined by Section 1002.012, Estates Code, that:
113	113	(A) allow visitation by a guardian to the same
114	114	extent as the prisoner's next of kin, including placing the
115	115	guardian on the prisoner's approved visitors list on the guardian's
116	116	request and providing the guardian access to the prisoner during a
117	117	facility's standard visitation hours if the prisoner is otherwise
118	118	eligible to receive visitors; and
119	119	(B) require the guardian to provide the sheriff
120	120	with letters of guardianship issued as provided by Section
121	121	1106.001, Estates Code, before being allowed to visit the prisoner;
122	122	and
123	123	(23) adopt reasonable rules and procedures:
124	124	(A) establishing minimum standards regarding
125	125	confinement conditions for and supervision and treatment of female
126	126	prisoners having or suspected of having a mental illness, including
127	127	appropriate methods of communicating with the prisoner; and
128	128	(B) requiring the jail's health services plan to
129	129	address mental health issues specific to female prisoners.
130	130	SECTION 2. Section 1701.310(a), Occupations Code, is
131	131	amended to read as follows:
132	132	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a person may not
133	133	be appointed as a county jailer, except on a temporary basis, unless
134	134	the person has satisfactorily completed a preparatory training
135	135	program, as required by the commission, in the operation of a county
136	136	jail at a school operated or licensed by the commission. The
137	137	training program must include instruction regarding mental health
138	138	issues specific to female prisoners, including appropriate methods
139	139	of communication with a female prisoner having or suspected of
140	140	having a mental illness.
141	141	SECTION 3. Section 1701.352, Occupations Code, is amended
142	142	by adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
143	143	(e-1) If the commission requires under Subsection (e) that
144	144	education and training be provided to county jailers, the
145	145	commission shall require the education and training to include
146	146	instruction regarding mental health issues specific to female
147	147	prisoners, including appropriate methods of communication with a
148	148	female prisoner having or suspected of having a mental illness.
149	149	SECTION 4. Not later than January 1, 2018, the Commission on
150	150	Jail Standards shall adopt the rules and procedures required by
151	151	Section 511.009(a)(23), Government Code, as added by this Act.
152	152	SECTION 5. Section 1701.310(a), Occupations Code, as
153	153	amended by this Act, applies only to a person appointed as a county
154	154	jailer on or after January 1, 2018. A person appointed as a county
155	155	jailer before January 1, 2018, is governed by the law in effect on
156	156	the date the person was appointed, and the former law is continued
157	157	in effect for that purpose.
158	158	SECTION 6. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
159	159	over another Act of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017,
160	160	relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
161	161	codes.
162	162	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.