86R8295 JRR-F
By: White H.B. No. 2158
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain programs and services for inmates and state
jail felony defendants, including the creation of a work release
program and the availability of peer support services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by
adding Sections 493.032 and 493.033 to read as follows:
Sec. 493.032. WORK RELEASE PROGRAM. (a) In this section,
"work release program" means a program that allows inmates and
state jail felony defendants to work at paid employment in the
community while continuing to serve a term of confinement in a
facility operated by or under contract with the department.
(b) The department shall establish a work release program at
select state jail felony facilities that are located near urban
areas of this state. Notwithstanding any other law, an inmate
participating in a work release program may be housed in a state
jail felony facility.
(c) The board shall adopt rules to implement and administer
this section, including rules establishing:
(1) eligibility criteria for participation in a work
release program;
(2) procedures for identifying inmates and state jail
felony defendants who are eligible to participate in a work release
program; and
(3) criteria for selecting work release program
participants.
(d) The eligibility criteria established under Subsection
(c)(1) must, at a minimum, provide that:
(1) an inmate is not eligible to participate in a work
release program unless:
(A) the inmate:
(i) has a presumptive parole date, as that
term is defined by Section 499.001, that is not more than two years
from the date of the inmate's application to participate in the
program; or
(ii) is scheduled to be discharged, or will
be eligible for release on mandatory supervision, on a date that is
not more than two years from the date of the inmate's application to
participate in the program;
(B) the inmate has demonstrated good behavior and
has not been the subject of any disciplinary actions during the
period specified by board rule; and
(C) the inmate has diligently participated in an
educational, vocational, treatment, or work program during the
period specified by board rule; and
(2) a state jail felony defendant is not eligible to
participate in a work release program unless the defendant has:
(A) demonstrated good behavior and has not been
the subject of any disciplinary actions during the period specified
by board rule; and
(B) diligently participated in an educational,
vocational, treatment, or work program during the period specified
by board rule.
(e) An employer of a work release program participant shall
pay the participant's salary to the department. The department:
(1) shall deposit not less than 50 percent of the
participant's net earnings during a pay period into a special fund
to be given to the participant on the participant's discharge or
release on parole or to mandatory supervision, as applicable; and
(2) may deduct from the participant's net earnings
during a pay period as follows:
(A) not more than 25 percent of the earnings for
the purpose of reimbursing the department for costs associated with
the work release program, including transportation costs, costs of
any additional security provided while the participant is in the
community, and costs of any additional programming or services
described by Subsection (f); and
(B) any amount from the remainder of the earnings
as necessary to pay any court-ordered financial obligations of the
participant, including child support or restitution to the victim
of an offense committed by the participant.
(f) The department may provide additional programming and
services to work release program participants, including reentry
and reintegration services and access to peer support services as
described by Section 493.033.
(g) In administering a work release program established
under this section, the department shall work with the local
business community to expand opportunities for future program
participants and shall give special consideration to businesses
that pay a competitive wage and have a history of employing and
retaining individuals who have criminal records.
(h) The department shall maintain a record of employment
rates, retention rates, pay rates, and recidivism rates of current
and former work release program participants and shall annually
publish that information on the department's Internet website.
Sec. 493.033. AVAILABILITY OF PEER SUPPORT SERVICES. (a)
The department shall adopt a policy to increase the availability of
formal and informal peer support services, including certified peer
specialist services, to a person confined in a facility operated by
or under contract with the department, including a state jail
felony facility, substance abuse felony punishment facility, or
intermediate sanction facility.
(b) The policy adopted under Subsection (a) must:
(1) allow for persons who have previously been
convicted of an offense, including releasees on parole or mandatory
supervision and defendants on community supervision, to serve as
certified peer specialists in a facility described by Subsection
(a);
(2) specify the conditions under which a person
described by Subdivision (1) may serve as a certified peer
specialist; and
(3) allow for persons confined in a facility described
by Subsection (a) to serve in a peer support role, provided that the
persons are trained and supervised by a community-based
organization described by Subsection (c).
(c) In implementing the policy adopted under Subsection
(a), the department shall:
(1) collaborate with community-based organizations
that provide peer specialist training, including training in any of
the following peer support specialties:
(A) certified peer specialist;
(B) certified peer reentry specialist;
(C) certified peer recovery specialist; or
(D) any other peer support specialty recognized
by the Health and Human Services Commission; and
(2) encourage and assist persons described by
Subsection (b)(3), with particular emphasis on persons who have
been involved with programs or services relating to substance abuse
or behavioral health, to participate in training described by
Subdivision (1).
SECTION 2. Not later than September 1, 2020, the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice shall:
(1) establish the work release program required by
Section 493.032, Government Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) adopt and implement the policy required by Section
493.033, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. 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, 2019.