86R1778 GCB-F
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 562
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the delivery of certain mental health information
regarding a defendant transferred from a county to the custody of
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the commitment of certain
defendants for competency restoration, and the use of
telepsychiatry in determining whether a defendant is manifestly
dangerous before commitment.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 8(a), Article 42.09, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A county that transfers a defendant to the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice under this article shall deliver to
an officer designated by the department:
(1) a copy of the judgment entered pursuant to Article
42.01, completed on a standardized felony judgment form described
by Section 4 of that article;
(2) a copy of any order revoking community supervision
and imposing sentence pursuant to Article 42A.755, including:
(A) any amounts owed for restitution, fines, and
court costs, completed on a standardized felony judgment form
described by Section 4, Article 42.01; and
(B) a copy of the client supervision plan
prepared for the defendant by the community supervision and
corrections department supervising the defendant, if such a plan
was prepared;
(3) a written report that states the nature and the
seriousness of each offense and that states the citation to the
provision or provisions of the Penal Code or other law under which
the defendant was convicted;
(4) a copy of the victim impact statement, if one has
been prepared in the case under Article 56.03;
(5) a statement as to whether there was a change in
venue in the case and, if so, the names of the county prosecuting
the offense and the county in which the case was tried;
(6) if requested, information regarding the criminal
history of the defendant, including the defendant's state
identification number if the number has been issued;
(7) a copy of the indictment or information for each
offense;
(8) a checklist sent by the department to the county
and completed by the county in a manner indicating that the
documents required by this subsection and Subsection (c) accompany
the defendant;
(9) if prepared, a copy of a presentence or
postsentence report prepared under Subchapter F, Chapter 42A;
(10) a copy of any detainer, issued by an agency of the
federal government, that is in the possession of the county and that
has been placed on the defendant;
(11) if prepared, a copy of the defendant's Texas
Uniform Health Status Update Form; [and]
(12) a written description of a hold or warrant,
issued by any other jurisdiction, that the county is aware of and
that has been placed on or issued for the defendant; and
(13) a copy of any mental health records, mental
health screening reports, or similar information regarding the
mental health of the defendant.
SECTION 2. Articles 46B.073(c) and (d), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(c) If the defendant is charged with an offense listed in
Article 17.032(a), other than an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1),
Penal Code, or the indictment alleges an affirmative finding under
Article 42A.054(c) or (d), the court may [shall] enter an order
committing the defendant for competency restoration services to the
maximum security unit of any facility designated by the Department
of State Health Services, to an agency of the United States
operating a mental hospital, or to a Department of Veterans Affairs
hospital. The court may base its decision whether to commit the
defendant to a facility described by this subsection on a
determination made by a review board established under Article
46B.105(b) that the defendant is manifestly dangerous. The court
may request that the review board make a determination of whether
the defendant is manifestly dangerous in the manner provided by
Article 46B.105(b-1), including by assessing the defendant through
telepsychiatry. If the court requests a review board to make a
recommendation under this subsection, Article 46B.105(e) does not
apply to the determination made by the review board and the review
board shall provide its determination directly to the court.
(d) The court shall enter an order committing a defendant to
whom this article applies and who is not committed to a facility [If
the defendant is not charged with an offense] described by
Subsection (c) [and the indictment does not allege an affirmative
finding under Article 42A.054(c) or (d), the court shall enter an
order committing the defendant] to a mental health facility or
residential care facility determined to be appropriate by the local
mental health authority or local intellectual and developmental
disability authority or to a jail-based competency restoration
program. A defendant may be committed to a jail-based competency
restoration program only if the program provider determines the
defendant will begin to receive competency restoration services
within 72 hours of arriving at the program.
SECTION 3. Article 46B.105, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) A review board established under Subsection (b) may
make a determination of whether a defendant is manifestly dangerous
by assessing the defendant through telepsychiatry and by reviewing
appropriate records necessary for an assessment of the danger the
defendant presents, as provided by rules adopted for that purpose
by the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services
Commission. In this subsection, "telepsychiatry" means the
practice of psychiatry, including conducting a psychiatric
evaluation, through videoconferencing or similar technology that
allows a psychiatrist to interact with another person without being
present at the same location as that person.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Article
46B.073, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies to an order for
commitment entered under that article on or after the effective
date of this Act, regardless of when the offense with which the
defendant is charged was committed.
SECTION 5. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt or amend rules regarding a
determination of whether a defendant is manifestly dangerous as
necessary to conform with the changes in law made by this Act to
Articles 46B.073 and 46B.105, Code of Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.