H.B. No. 1651
AN ACT
relating to the care of pregnant women confined in county jail.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 511.009(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall:
(1) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
establishing minimum standards for the construction, equipment,
maintenance, and operation of county jails;
(2) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
establishing minimum standards for the custody, care, and treatment
of prisoners;
(3) adopt reasonable rules establishing minimum
standards for the number of jail supervisory personnel and for
programs and services to meet the needs of prisoners;
(4) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
establishing minimum requirements for programs of rehabilitation,
education, and recreation in county jails;
(5) revise, amend, or change rules and procedures if
necessary;
(6) provide to local government officials
consultation on and technical assistance for county jails;
(7) review and comment on plans for the construction
and major modification or renovation of county jails;
(8) require that the sheriff and commissioners of each
county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
commission, an annual report on the conditions in each county jail
within their jurisdiction, including all information necessary to
determine compliance with state law, commission orders, and the
rules adopted under this chapter;
(9) review the reports submitted under Subdivision (8)
and require commission employees to inspect county jails regularly
to ensure compliance with state law, commission orders, and rules
and procedures adopted under this chapter;
(10) adopt a classification system to assist sheriffs
and judges in determining which defendants are low-risk and
consequently suitable participants in a county jail work release
program under Article 42.034, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(11) adopt rules relating to requirements for
segregation of classes of inmates and to capacities for county
jails;
(12) require that the chief jailer of each municipal
lockup submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
securely detained in the lockup, including all information
necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
confinement of children in municipal lockups;
(13) at least annually determine whether each county
jail is in compliance with the rules and procedures adopted under
this chapter;
(14) require that the sheriff and commissioners court
of each county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
securely detained in the county jail, including all information
necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
confinement of children in county jails;
(15) schedule announced and unannounced inspections
of jails under the commission's jurisdiction using the risk
assessment plan established under Section 511.0085 to guide the
inspections process;
(16) adopt a policy for gathering and distributing to
jails under the commission's jurisdiction information regarding:
(A) common issues concerning jail
administration;
(B) examples of successful strategies for
maintaining compliance with state law and the rules, standards, and
procedures of the commission; and
(C) solutions to operational challenges for
jails;
(17) report to the Texas Correctional Office on
Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments on a jail's compliance
with Article 16.22, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(18) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
establishing minimum requirements for a county jail [jails] to:
(A) determine if a prisoner is pregnant; [and]
(B) ensure that the jail's health services plan
addresses medical care, including obstetrical and gynecological
care, [and] mental health care, [including] nutritional
requirements, and any special housing or work assignment needs for
prisoners [persons] who are [confined in the jail and are] known or
determined to be pregnant; and
(C) identify when a pregnant prisoner is in labor
and provide appropriate care to the prisoner, including promptly
transporting the prisoner to a local hospital;
(19) provide guidelines to sheriffs regarding
contracts between a sheriff and another entity for the provision of
food services to or the operation of a commissary in a jail under
the commission's jurisdiction, including specific provisions
regarding conflicts of interest and avoiding the appearance of
impropriety;
(20) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
establishing minimum standards for prisoner visitation that
provide each prisoner at a county jail with a minimum of two
in-person, noncontact visitation periods per week of at least 20
minutes duration each;
(21) require the sheriff of each county to:
(A) investigate and verify the veteran status of
each prisoner by using data made available from the Veterans
Reentry Search Service (VRSS) operated by the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs or a similar service; and
(B) use the data described by Paragraph (A) to
assist prisoners who are veterans in applying for federal benefits
or compensation for which the prisoners may be eligible under a
program administered by the United States Department of Veterans
Affairs;
(22) adopt reasonable rules and procedures regarding
visitation of a prisoner at a county jail by a guardian, as defined
by Section 1002.012, Estates Code, that:
(A) allow visitation by a guardian to the same
extent as the prisoner's next of kin, including placing the
guardian on the prisoner's approved visitors list on the guardian's
request and providing the guardian access to the prisoner during a
facility's standard visitation hours if the prisoner is otherwise
eligible to receive visitors; and
(B) require the guardian to provide the sheriff
with letters of guardianship issued as provided by Section
1106.001, Estates Code, before being allowed to visit the prisoner;
and
(23) adopt reasonable rules and procedures to ensure
the safety of prisoners, including rules and procedures that
require a county jail to:
(A) give prisoners the ability to access a mental
health professional at the jail through a telemental health service
24 hours a day;
(B) give prisoners the ability to access a health
professional at the jail or through a telehealth service 24 hours a
day or, if a health professional is unavailable at the jail or
through a telehealth service, provide for a prisoner to be
transported to access a health professional; and
(C) if funding is available under Section
511.019, install automated electronic sensors or cameras to ensure
accurate and timely in-person checks of cells or groups of cells
confining at-risk individuals.
SECTION 2. Chapter 511, Government Code, is amended by
adding Sections 511.0104 and 511.0105 to read as follows:
Sec. 511.0104. RULES REGARDING RESTRAINT OF PREGNANT
PRISONER. (a) The commission shall adopt reasonable rules and
procedures regarding the use of any type of restraints to control or
restrict the movement of a prisoner, including a limb or other part
of the prisoner, who is confirmed to be pregnant or who gave birth
in the preceding 12 weeks.
(b) The rules and procedures must:
(1) prohibit the use of restraints on a prisoner
described by Subsection (a) for the duration of the pregnancy and
for a period of not less than 12 weeks after the prisoner gives
birth unless:
(A) supervisory personnel determines:
(i) the use of restraints is necessary to
prevent an immediate and credible risk that the prisoner will
attempt to escape; or
(ii) the prisoner poses an immediate and
serious threat to the health and safety of the prisoner, staff, or
any member of the public; or
(B) a health care professional responsible for
the health and safety of the prisoner determines that the use of
restraints is appropriate for the health and safety of the prisoner
and, if applicable, the unborn child of the prisoner;
(2) require jail staff that uses restraints as
permitted under Subdivision (1) to use the least restrictive
restraints necessary to prevent escape or to ensure health and
safety; and
(3) notwithstanding Subdivision (1), require jail
staff to, at the request of a health care professional responsible
for the health and safety of the prisoner, refrain from using
restraints on the prisoner or to remove the restraints.
Sec. 511.0105. REPORT REGARDING RESTRAINT OF PREGNANT
PRISONER. (a) Not later than February 1 of each year, each county
jail shall submit to the commission a report regarding the jail's
use, during the preceding calendar year, of any type of restraints
to control or restrict the movement of a prisoner, including a limb
or other part of the prisoner, who is confirmed to be pregnant or
who gave birth in the preceding 12 weeks.
(b) The report must include the circumstances of each use of
restraints, including:
(1) the specific type of restraints used;
(2) what activity the prisoner was engaged in
immediately before being restrained;
(3) whether the prisoner was restrained during or
after delivery;
(4) whether the prisoner was restrained while being
transported to a local hospital; and
(5) the reasons supporting the determination to use
the restraints, a description of the process by which the
determination was made, and the name and title of the person or
persons making the determination.
(c) The commission shall prescribe a form for the report
required for this section.
SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2019, the Commission
on Jail Standards shall:
(1) adopt the rules and procedures required by Section
511.009(a)(18), Government Code, as amended by this Act, and
Section 511.0104, Government Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) prescribe the form required by Section 511.0105,
Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1651 was passed by the House on April
9, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1651 on May 22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1651 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 15, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor