85R7158 AAF-D
By: Lucio S.B. No. 2135
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to services provided to veterans who have been arrested
for a misdemeanor or felony offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 434, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 434.024 and 434.025 to read as follows:
Sec. 434.024. COORDINATION WITH MUNICIPALITIES. The Texas
Veterans Commission and a Veterans County Service Office created
under Subchapter B in a county in which a veterans treatment court
program has been established under Chapter 124 shall:
(1) contact the municipalities in that county and
inform the municipalities of the benefits and services provided by
the veterans treatment court program; and
(2) develop procedures by which municipalities in that
county may inform the Veterans County Service Office that a veteran
has been arrested in the municipality for a misdemeanor or felony
offense.
Sec. 434.025. WORK GROUP ON VETERANS TREATMENT COURT
PROGRAMS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas Veterans Commission.
(2) "Veterans treatment court program" has the meaning
assigned by Section 124.001.
(3) "Work group" means the Work Group on Veterans
Treatment Court Programs.
(b) The commission shall establish the Work Group on
Veterans Treatment Court Programs:
(1) to develop and make recommendations for
strengthening veterans treatment court programs; and
(2) composed of the following members:
(A) providers of services to veterans;
(B) members of the judiciary;
(C) representatives from the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs; and
(D) members of interested nonprofit and private
organizations, including national foundations for veterans.
(c) The work group shall develop recommendations:
(1) identifying additional funding mechanisms for
veterans treatment court programs; and
(2) for increasing the use and effectiveness of
veterans treatment court programs.
(d) In developing the recommendations described by
Subsection (c)(2), the work group shall collaborate with veterans
county service officers appointed under Section 434.033.
(e) Not later than October 1 of each even-numbered year, the
work group shall submit to the commission a written report of the
work group's recommendations described by Subsection (c). The work
group may electronically deliver the report to the commission.
(f) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year,
the commission shall evaluate the work group's report and submit to
the legislature a report outlining legislative recommendations to
strengthen veterans treatment court programs. The commission may
electronically deliver the report to the legislature.
SECTION 2. Section 434.039, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 434.039. COORDINATION WITH COUNTY SERVICE OFFICERS AND
COMMISSIONERS COURTS. The commission shall develop and adopt
procedures to coordinate with county service officers and county
commissioners courts to:
(1) identify the shared objectives of the commission,
county service officers, and counties with a county service office
in serving veterans;
(2) develop a plan for encouraging service officers to
become accredited by the United States Department of Veterans
Affairs;
(3) develop a procedure for consulting with counties
to evaluate the state's overall approach to service delivery by
county service officers and commission claims staff as part of the
state's veterans assistance network;
(4) define the commission's responsibilities in
overseeing claims and appeals prepared by county service officers
for instances when the commission has been designated as a
veteran's agent under a power of attorney;
(5) develop a process for collecting information
regarding claims filed by county service officers for instances
when the commission has been designated as a veteran's agent under a
power of attorney, for providing technical assistance to county
service officers, and for providing evaluative information, on
request, to county judges or other local officials who supervise
county service officers;
(6) incorporate county service officers into United
States Department of Veterans Affairs appeals hearings either to
represent veterans or to appear as witnesses, as needed;
(7) explore opportunities for funding county service
officer travel to participate in United States Department of
Veterans Affairs appeals hearings; [and]
(8) develop procedures to regularly update county
service officers on changes in United States Department of Veterans
Affairs policies and procedures, and other information; and
(9) develop procedures for county commissioners
courts in counties in which a veterans treatment court program has
been established under Chapter 124 to inform an officer for that
county that a veteran in that county has been arrested for a
misdemeanor or felony offense.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 434, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 434.040, 434.041, and 434.042 to read as
follows:
Sec. 434.040. NOTIFICATION TO COUNTY SERVICE OFFICERS OF
ARRESTED VETERANS. (a) A municipality or a county commissioners
court in a county in which a veterans treatment court program has
been established under Chapter 124 shall notify the officer for
that county:
(1) that a veteran in that county or municipality, as
applicable, has been arrested for a misdemeanor or felony offense;
and
(2) of the type of misdemeanor or felony offense for
which the veteran was arrested.
(b) A county commissioners court shall notify an officer of
a veteran's arrest under Subsection (a) not later than 24 hours
after the arrest.
(c) To satisfy the requirements of Subsection (a), a
municipality or a county commissioners court may:
(1) follow the procedures developed by the commission
to notify officers of arrested veterans under Section 434.024 or
434.039, as applicable; or
(2) establish its own procedures to notify officers of
arrested veterans.
Sec. 434.041. VISITATION OF VETERANS IN JAIL. After an
officer for a county learns that a veteran has been arrested for a
misdemeanor or felony offense and is confined in jail, the officer
shall visit the veteran in the:
(1) county jail not later than 72 hours after
receiving notification under Section 434.040; or
(2) municipal jail as soon as practicable after
receiving notification under Section 434.040.
Sec. 434.042. RECOMMENDATION FOR VETERANS TREATMENT COURT
PROGRAM. (a) After visitation of a veteran under Section 434.041,
an officer, in consultation with the county commissioners court and
the commission, shall determine whether the veteran is eligible
under Section 124.002 to participate in a veterans treatment court
program established under Chapter 124.
(b) If the officer determines under Subsection (a) that a
veteran is eligible for participation in a veterans treatment court
program established under Chapter 124, the officer shall recommend
to the court in which the criminal case is pending that the veteran
participate in the program.
SECTION 4. The Work Group on Veterans Treatment Court
Programs established under Section 434.025, Government Code, as
added by this Act, shall hold the group's initial meeting not later
than November 1, 2017.
SECTION 5. Not later than December 1, 2017, the Texas
Veterans Commission shall adopt rules and procedures necessary to
implement the changes in law made by this Act to Chapter 434,
Government Code.
SECTION 6. 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.