| 1 | 1 | | 87R6201 MCF-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: White H.B. No. 1553 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to evaluating the effectiveness of veterans treatment |
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| 8 | 8 | | court programs in this state. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 71.037, Government Code, is amended to |
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| 11 | 11 | | read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 71.037. SPECIALTY COURT BEST PRACTICES. The council |
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| 13 | 13 | | shall: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) review and as appropriate approve recommendations |
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| 15 | 15 | | made by the Specialty Courts Advisory Council under Section |
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| 16 | 16 | | 772.0061(b)(2); and |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2) conduct an ongoing evaluation to determine the |
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| 18 | 18 | | effectiveness of veterans treatment court programs established |
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| 19 | 19 | | under Chapter 124 using the guidelines and objective performance |
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| 20 | 20 | | measures developed by the Office of Court Administration of the |
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| 21 | 21 | | Texas Judicial System under Section 72.0305. |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 72, Government Code, is |
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| 23 | 23 | | amended by adding Section 72.0305 to read as follows: |
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| 24 | 24 | | Sec. 72.0305. VETERANS TREATMENT COURT PROGRAM EVALUATION. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (a) The office shall establish guidelines for and define the scope |
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| 26 | 26 | | of an ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of veterans treatment |
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| 27 | 27 | | court programs established under Chapter 124. |
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| 28 | 28 | | (b) The guidelines described by Subsection (a) must contain |
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| 29 | 29 | | objective performance measures, including a standard definition of |
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| 30 | 30 | | recidivism to evaluate each veterans treatment court program's |
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| 31 | 31 | | effectiveness in preventing participants from reentering the |
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| 32 | 32 | | criminal justice system. |
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| 33 | 33 | | (c) The office shall collect and analyze data regarding: |
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| 34 | 34 | | (1) the rate of recidivism among defendants who |
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| 35 | 35 | | successfully completed a veterans treatment court program; and |
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| 36 | 36 | | (2) the statewide rate of recidivism among defendants |
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| 37 | 37 | | who have committed offenses for which a veteran may be eligible to |
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| 38 | 38 | | participate in a veterans treatment court program. |
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| 39 | 39 | | (d) Subsection (c) and this subsection expire September 1, |
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| 40 | 40 | | 2031. |
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| 41 | 41 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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