Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1651 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.B. No. 1651
	1	+	By: González of El Paso, et al. H.B. No. 1651
	2	+	(Senate Sponsor - Alvarado)
	3	+	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 11, 2019;
	4	+	March 4, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on
	5	+	Criminal Justice; May 9, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable
	6	+	Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0;
	7	+	May 9, 2019, sent to printer.)
	8	+	Click here to see the committee vote
	9	+	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1651 By: Whitmire
2	10
3	11
	12	+	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
4	13		AN ACT
5	14		relating to the care of pregnant women confined in county jail.
6	15		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
7	16		SECTION 1. Section 511.009(a), Government Code, is amended
8	17		to read as follows:
9	18		(a) The commission shall:
10	19		(1) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
11	20		establishing minimum standards for the construction, equipment,
12	21		maintenance, and operation of county jails;
13	22		(2) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
14	23		establishing minimum standards for the custody, care, and treatment
15	24		of prisoners;
16	25		(3) adopt reasonable rules establishing minimum
17	26		standards for the number of jail supervisory personnel and for
18	27		programs and services to meet the needs of prisoners;
19	28		(4) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
20	29		establishing minimum requirements for programs of rehabilitation,
21	30		education, and recreation in county jails;
22	31		(5) revise, amend, or change rules and procedures if
23	32		necessary;
24	33		(6) provide to local government officials
25	34		consultation on and technical assistance for county jails;
26	35		(7) review and comment on plans for the construction
27	36		and major modification or renovation of county jails;
28	37		(8) require that the sheriff and commissioners of each
29	38		county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
30	39		commission, an annual report on the conditions in each county jail
31	40		within their jurisdiction, including all information necessary to
32	41		determine compliance with state law, commission orders, and the
33	42		rules adopted under this chapter;
34	43		(9) review the reports submitted under Subdivision (8)
35	44		and require commission employees to inspect county jails regularly
36	45		to ensure compliance with state law, commission orders, and rules
37	46		and procedures adopted under this chapter;
38	47		(10) adopt a classification system to assist sheriffs
39	48		and judges in determining which defendants are low-risk and
40	49		consequently suitable participants in a county jail work release
41	50		program under Article 42.034, Code of Criminal Procedure;
42	51		(11) adopt rules relating to requirements for
43	52		segregation of classes of inmates and to capacities for county
44	53		jails;
45	54		(12) require that the chief jailer of each municipal
46	55		lockup submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
47	56		commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
48	57		securely detained in the lockup, including all information
49	58		necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
50	59		confinement of children in municipal lockups;
51	60		(13) at least annually determine whether each county
52	61		jail is in compliance with the rules and procedures adopted under
53	62		this chapter;
54	63		(14) require that the sheriff and commissioners court
55	64		of each county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
56	65		commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
57	66		securely detained in the county jail, including all information
58	67		necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
59	68		confinement of children in county jails;
60	69		(15) schedule announced and unannounced inspections
61	70		of jails under the commission's jurisdiction using the risk
62	71		assessment plan established under Section 511.0085 to guide the
63	72		inspections process;
64	73		(16) adopt a policy for gathering and distributing to
65	74		jails under the commission's jurisdiction information regarding:
66	75		(A) common issues concerning jail
67	76		administration;
68	77		(B) examples of successful strategies for
69	78		maintaining compliance with state law and the rules, standards, and
70	79		procedures of the commission; and
71	80		(C) solutions to operational challenges for
72	81		jails;
73	82		(17) report to the Texas Correctional Office on
74	83		Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments on a jail's compliance
75	84		with Article 16.22, Code of Criminal Procedure;
76	85		(18) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
77	86		establishing minimum requirements for a county jail [jails] to:
78	87		(A) determine if a prisoner is pregnant; [and]
79	88		(B) ensure that the jail's health services plan
80	89		addresses medical care, including obstetrical and gynecological
81	90		care, [and] mental health care, [including] nutritional
82	91		requirements, and any special housing or work assignment needs for
83	92		prisoners [persons] who are [confined in the jail and are] known or
84	93		determined to be pregnant; and
85	94		(C) identify when a pregnant prisoner is in labor
86	95		and provide appropriate care to the prisoner, including promptly
87	96		transporting the prisoner to a local hospital;
88	97		(19) provide guidelines to sheriffs regarding
89	98		contracts between a sheriff and another entity for the provision of
90	99		food services to or the operation of a commissary in a jail under
91	100		the commission's jurisdiction, including specific provisions
92	101		regarding conflicts of interest and avoiding the appearance of
93	102		impropriety;
94	103		(20) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
95	104		establishing minimum standards for prisoner visitation that
96	105		provide each prisoner at a county jail with a minimum of two
97	106		in-person, noncontact visitation periods per week of at least 20
98	107		minutes duration each;
99	108		(21) require the sheriff of each county to:
100	109		(A) investigate and verify the veteran status of
101	110		each prisoner by using data made available from the Veterans
102	111		Reentry Search Service (VRSS) operated by the United States
103	112		Department of Veterans Affairs or a similar service; and
104	113		(B) use the data described by Paragraph (A) to
105	114		assist prisoners who are veterans in applying for federal benefits
106	115		or compensation for which the prisoners may be eligible under a
107	116		program administered by the United States Department of Veterans
108	117		Affairs;
109	118		(22) adopt reasonable rules and procedures regarding
110	119		visitation of a prisoner at a county jail by a guardian, as defined
111	120		by Section 1002.012, Estates Code, that:
112	121		(A) allow visitation by a guardian to the same
113	122		extent as the prisoner's next of kin, including placing the
114	123		guardian on the prisoner's approved visitors list on the guardian's
115	124		request and providing the guardian access to the prisoner during a
116	125		facility's standard visitation hours if the prisoner is otherwise
117	126		eligible to receive visitors; and
118	127		(B) require the guardian to provide the sheriff
119	128		with letters of guardianship issued as provided by Section
120	129		1106.001, Estates Code, before being allowed to visit the prisoner;
121	130		and
122	131		(23) adopt reasonable rules and procedures to ensure
123	132		the safety of prisoners, including rules and procedures that
124	133		require a county jail to:
125	134		(A) give prisoners the ability to access a mental
126	135		health professional at the jail through a telemental health service
127	136		24 hours a day;
128	137		(B) give prisoners the ability to access a health
129	138		professional at the jail or through a telehealth service 24 hours a
130	139		day or, if a health professional is unavailable at the jail or
131	140		through a telehealth service, provide for a prisoner to be
132	141		transported to access a health professional; and
133	142		(C) if funding is available under Section
134	143		511.019, install automated electronic sensors or cameras to ensure
135	144		accurate and timely in-person checks of cells or groups of cells
136	145		confining at-risk individuals.
137	146		SECTION 2. Chapter 511, Government Code, is amended by
138	147		adding Sections 511.0104 and 511.0105 to read as follows:
139	148		Sec. 511.0104. RULES REGARDING RESTRAINT OF PREGNANT
140	149		PRISONER. (a) The commission shall adopt reasonable rules and
141	150		procedures regarding the use of any type of restraints to control or
142	151		restrict the movement of a prisoner, including a limb or other part
143	152		of the prisoner, who is confirmed to be pregnant or who gave birth
144	153		in the preceding 12 weeks.
145	154		(b) The rules and procedures must:
146	155		(1) prohibit the use of restraints on a prisoner
147	156		described by Subsection (a) for the duration of the pregnancy and
148	157		for a period of not less than 12 weeks after the prisoner gives
149	158		birth unless:
150	159		(A) supervisory personnel determines:
151	160		(i) the use of restraints is necessary to
152	161		prevent an immediate and credible risk that the prisoner will
153	162		attempt to escape; or
154	163		(ii) the prisoner poses an immediate and
155	164		serious threat to the health and safety of the prisoner, staff, or
156	165		any member of the public; or
157	166		(B) a health care professional responsible for
158	167		the health and safety of the prisoner determines that the use of
159	168		restraints is appropriate for the health and safety of the prisoner
160	169		and, if applicable, the unborn child of the prisoner;
161	170		(2) require jail staff that uses restraints as
162	171		permitted under Subdivision (1) to use the least restrictive
163	172		restraints necessary to prevent escape or to ensure health and
164	173		safety; and
165	174		(3) notwithstanding Subdivision (1), require jail
166	175		staff to, at the request of a health care professional responsible
167	176		for the health and safety of the prisoner, refrain from using
168	177		restraints on the prisoner or to remove the restraints.
169	178		Sec. 511.0105. REPORT REGARDING RESTRAINT OF PREGNANT
170	179		PRISONER. (a) Not later than February 1 of each year, each county
171	180		jail shall submit to the commission a report regarding the jail's
172	181		use, during the preceding calendar year, of any type of restraints
173	182		to control or restrict the movement of a prisoner, including a limb
174	183		or other part of the prisoner, who is confirmed to be pregnant or
175	184		who gave birth in the preceding 12 weeks.
176	185		(b) The report must include the circumstances of each use of
177	186		restraints, including:
178	187		(1) the specific type of restraints used;
179	188		(2) what activity the prisoner was engaged in
180	189		immediately before being restrained;
181	190		(3) whether the prisoner was restrained during or
182	191		after delivery;
183	192		(4) whether the prisoner was restrained while being
184	193		transported to a local hospital; and
185	194		(5) the reasons supporting the determination to use
186	195		the restraints, a description of the process by which the
187	196		determination was made, and the name and title of the person or
188	197		persons making the determination.
189	198		(c) The commission shall prescribe a form for the report
190	199		required for this section.
191	200		SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2019, the Commission
192	201		on Jail Standards shall:
193	202		(1) adopt the rules and procedures required by Section
194	203		511.009(a)(18), Government Code, as amended by this Act, and
195	204		Section 511.0104, Government Code, as added by this Act; and
196	205		(2) prescribe the form required by Section 511.0105,
197	206		Government Code, as added by this Act.
198	207		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
199		-	______________________________ ______________________________
200		-	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
201		-	I certify that H.B. No. 1651 was passed by the House on April
202		-	9, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0, 1 present, not
203		-	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
204		-	No. 1651 on May 22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0,
205		-	1 present, not voting.
206		-	______________________________
207		-	Chief Clerk of the House
208		-	I certify that H.B. No. 1651 was passed by the Senate, with
209		-	amendments, on May 15, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
210		-	0.
211		-	______________________________
212		-	Secretary of the Senate
213		-	APPROVED: __________________
214		-	Date
215		-	__________________
216		-	Governor
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