Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3311 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	86R23682 JRR-D
2		-	By: Romero, Jr., Sherman, Sr. H.B. No. 3311
3		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3311:
4		-	By: Flynn C.S.H.B. No. 3311
	1	+	86R12799 JRR-D
	2	+	By: Romero, Jr. H.B. No. 3311
5	3
6	4
7	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	6		AN ACT
9	7		relating to the verification of the veteran status of inmates and
10	8		prisoners.
11	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	10		SECTION 1. Section 501.024(b), Government Code, is amended
13	11		to read as follows:
14	12		(b) The department shall:
15	13		(1) in consultation with the Texas Veterans
16	14		Commission, investigate and verify the veteran status of each
17	15		inmate by using the best available federal data; and
18	16		(2) use the data described by Subdivision (1) to
19	17		assist inmates who are veterans in applying for federal benefits or
20	18		compensation for which the inmates may be eligible under a program
21	19		administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs,
22	20		including mailing any related paperwork, application, or other
23	21		correspondence on behalf of and at no charge to the inmate.
24	22		SECTION 2. Section 511.009(a), Government Code, is amended
25	23		to read as follows:
26	24		(a) The commission shall:
27	25		(1) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
28	26		establishing minimum standards for the construction, equipment,
29	27		maintenance, and operation of county jails;
30	28		(2) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
31	29		establishing minimum standards for the custody, care, and treatment
32	30		of prisoners;
33	31		(3) adopt reasonable rules establishing minimum
34	32		standards for the number of jail supervisory personnel and for
35	33		programs and services to meet the needs of prisoners;
36	34		(4) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
37	35		establishing minimum requirements for programs of rehabilitation,
38	36		education, and recreation in county jails;
39	37		(5) revise, amend, or change rules and procedures if
40	38		necessary;
41	39		(6) provide to local government officials
42	40		consultation on and technical assistance for county jails;
43	41		(7) review and comment on plans for the construction
44	42		and major modification or renovation of county jails;
45	43		(8) require that the sheriff and commissioners of each
46	44		county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
47	45		commission, an annual report on the conditions in each county jail
48	46		within their jurisdiction, including all information necessary to
49	47		determine compliance with state law, commission orders, and the
50	48		rules adopted under this chapter;
51	49		(9) review the reports submitted under Subdivision (8)
52	50		and require commission employees to inspect county jails regularly
53	51		to ensure compliance with state law, commission orders, and rules
54	52		and procedures adopted under this chapter;
55	53		(10) adopt a classification system to assist sheriffs
56	54		and judges in determining which defendants are low-risk and
57	55		consequently suitable participants in a county jail work release
58	56		program under Article 42.034, Code of Criminal Procedure;
59	57		(11) adopt rules relating to requirements for
60	58		segregation of classes of inmates and to capacities for county
61	59		jails;
62	60		(12) require that the chief jailer of each municipal
63	61		lockup submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
64	62		commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
65	63		securely detained in the lockup, including all information
66	64		necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
67	65		confinement of children in municipal lockups;
68	66		(13) at least annually determine whether each county
69	67		jail is in compliance with the rules and procedures adopted under
70	68		this chapter;
71	69		(14) require that the sheriff and commissioners court
72	70		of each county submit to the commission, on a form prescribed by the
73	71		commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of age
74	72		securely detained in the county jail, including all information
75	73		necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning secure
76	74		confinement of children in county jails;
77	75		(15) schedule announced and unannounced inspections
78	76		of jails under the commission's jurisdiction using the risk
79	77		assessment plan established under Section 511.0085 to guide the
80	78		inspections process;
81	79		(16) adopt a policy for gathering and distributing to
82	80		jails under the commission's jurisdiction information regarding:
83	81		(A) common issues concerning jail
84	82		administration;
85	83		(B) examples of successful strategies for
86	84		maintaining compliance with state law and the rules, standards, and
87	85		procedures of the commission; and
88	86		(C) solutions to operational challenges for
89	87		jails;
90	88		(17) report to the Texas Correctional Office on
91	89		Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments on a jail's compliance
92	90		with Article 16.22, Code of Criminal Procedure;
93	91		(18) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
94	92		establishing minimum requirements for jails to:
95	93		(A) determine if a prisoner is pregnant; and
96	94		(B) ensure that the jail's health services plan
97	95		addresses medical and mental health care, including nutritional
98	96		requirements, and any special housing or work assignment needs for
99	97		persons who are confined in the jail and are known or determined to
100	98		be pregnant;
101	99		(19) provide guidelines to sheriffs regarding
102	100		contracts between a sheriff and another entity for the provision of
103	101		food services to or the operation of a commissary in a jail under
104	102		the commission's jurisdiction, including specific provisions
105	103		regarding conflicts of interest and avoiding the appearance of
106	104		impropriety;
107	105		(20) adopt reasonable rules and procedures
108	106		establishing minimum standards for prisoner visitation that
109	107		provide each prisoner at a county jail with a minimum of two
110	108		in-person, noncontact visitation periods per week of at least 20
111	109		minutes duration each;
112	110		(21) require the sheriff of each county to:
113	111		(A) investigate and verify the veteran status of
114	112		each prisoner during the intake process by using data made
115	113		available from the Veterans Reentry Search Service (VRSS) operated
116	114		by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or a similar
117	115		service; and
118	116		(B) use the data described by Paragraph (A) to
119	117		assist prisoners who are veterans in applying for federal benefits
120	118		or compensation for which the prisoners may be eligible under a
121	119		program administered by the United States Department of Veterans
122		-	Affairs, including providing the prisoner on verification of the
123		-	prisoner's veteran status with a prepaid postcard that is supplied
124		-	by the Texas Veterans Commission for purposes of requesting
125		-	assistance in applying for veterans benefits;
	120	+	Affairs, including mailing any related paperwork, application, or
	121	+	other correspondence on behalf of and at no charge to the prisoner;
126	122		(22) adopt reasonable rules and procedures regarding
127	123		visitation of a prisoner at a county jail by a guardian, as defined
128	124		by Section 1002.012, Estates Code, that:
129	125		(A) allow visitation by a guardian to the same
130	126		extent as the prisoner's next of kin, including placing the
131	127		guardian on the prisoner's approved visitors list on the guardian's
132	128		request and providing the guardian access to the prisoner during a
133	129		facility's standard visitation hours if the prisoner is otherwise
134	130		eligible to receive visitors; and
135	131		(B) require the guardian to provide the sheriff
136	132		with letters of guardianship issued as provided by Section
137	133		1106.001, Estates Code, before being allowed to visit the prisoner;
138	134		and
139	135		(23) adopt reasonable rules and procedures to ensure
140	136		the safety of prisoners, including rules and procedures that
141	137		require a county jail to:
142	138		(A) give prisoners the ability to access a mental
143	139		health professional at the jail through a telemental health service
144	140		24 hours a day;
145	141		(B) give prisoners the ability to access a health
146	142		professional at the jail or through a telehealth service 24 hours a
147	143		day or, if a health professional is unavailable at the jail or
148	144		through a telehealth service, provide for a prisoner to be
149	145		transported to access a health professional; and
150	146		(C) if funding is available under Section
151	147		511.019, install automated electronic sensors or cameras to ensure
152	148		accurate and timely in-person checks of cells or groups of cells
153	149		confining at-risk individuals.
154	150		SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.