87R8965 JRR-D
By: Campos H.B. No. 2395
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to individual treatment plans for inmates.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 508.144(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The board shall:
(1) develop according to an acceptable research method
the parole guidelines that are the basic criteria on which a parole
decision is made;
(2) base the guidelines on the seriousness of the
offense and the likelihood of a favorable parole outcome;
(3) ensure that the guidelines require consideration
of an inmate's progress on the inmate's individual treatment plan
and in any other programs in which the inmate participated during
the inmate's term of confinement;
(4) establish and maintain a range of recommended
parole approval rates for each category or score within the
guidelines; and
(5) implement the guidelines.
SECTION 2. Section 508.152, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (b-2), (c), and (e) and adding Subsection
(g) to read as follows:
(b) The department shall:
(1) not later than the 45th day after the date an
inmate is admitted to the institutional division, establish for the
inmate an individual treatment plan and provide the plan to the
inmate; and
(2) submit the plan to the board at the time of the
board's consideration of the inmate's case for release.
(b-2) At least once in every 12-month period, the department
shall review each inmate's individual treatment plan to assess the
inmate's institutional progress and revise or update the plan as
necessary. The department shall make reasonable efforts to provide
an inmate the opportunity to complete any classes or programs
included in the inmate's individual treatment plan[, other than
classes or programs that are to be completed immediately] before
the inmate's [release on] parole eligibility date[, in a timely
manner] so that the inmate's release on parole is not delayed due to
any uncompleted classes or programs.
(c) The board shall conduct an initial review of an eligible
inmate not later than the 180th day after the date of the inmate's
admission to the institutional division. The board shall identify
any classes or programs that the board intends to require the inmate
to complete before the inmate's parole eligibility date [releasing
the inmate on parole]. The department shall provide the inmate with
a list of those classes or programs and make those classes available
to the inmate before the inmate's parole eligibility date.
(e) The institutional division shall:
(1) work closely with the board to monitor the
progress of the inmate in the institutional division; [and]
(2) report the progress to the board before the
inmate's release; and
(3) revise the inmate's risk level to reflect the
inmate's completion of programming as required by the inmate's
individual treatment plan.
(g) The department shall provide to the board a record of
the inmate's progress toward completion of the inmate's individual
treatment plan.
SECTION 3. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Board of Pardons and Paroles shall modify the
parole guidelines to be in conformity with Section 508.144(a),
Government Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.