Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4207 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Murr H.B. No. 4207
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to private vendors for correctional facilities and
7	7	services.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Sec. 495.001. AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT. is amended
10	10	to read as follows:
11	11	(a) The board may contract with a private vendor or with the
12	12	commissioners court of a county for the financing, construction,
13	13	operation,or maintenance, or management of a secure correctional
14	14	facility.
15	15	(b) A facility operated, maintained, and managed under this
16	16	subchapter by a private vendor or county must:
17	17	(1) hold not more than an average daily population of
18	18	1,1502,000 inmates;
19	19	(2) comply with federal constitutional standards and
20	20	applicable court orders; and
21	21	(3) receive and retain, as an individual facility,
22	22	accreditation from the American Correctional Association.
23	23	(c) A facility authorized by this subchapter may be located
24	24	on private land or on land owned by the state or a political
25	25	subdivision of the state. The board may accept land donated for that
26	26	purpose.
27	27	(d) The population requirements imposed by Subsection
28	28	(b)(1) do not apply to a facility that is under construction or
29	29	completed before April 14, 1987.
30	30	(e)(d) The board shall give priority to entering contracts
31	31	under this subchapter that will provide the institutional division
32	32	with secure regionally based correctional facilities designed to
33	33	successfully reintegrate inmates into society through preparole,
34	34	prerelease, work release, and prison industries programs.
35	35	(f) (e) Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(1), a facility that
36	36	before December 1, 1991, was operated, maintained, and managed
37	37	under this subchapter by a private vendor or county may not hold
38	38	more than an average daily population of 500 inmates, unless the
39	39	commissioners court of the county in which the facility is located
40	40	expresses in a resolution on the subject that the limit on
41	41	population imposed by this subsection should not apply to the
42	42	facility.
43	43	(f) Any contract that is in existence between the state and
44	44	a private vendor for operation or management of a secure
45	45	correctional facility as of December 31, 2020, shall remain valid
46	46	until it expires on its own terms, without invoking any additional
47	47	renewal provisions.
48	48	Sec. 495.002. INMATES. The institutional division may
49	49	confine only minimum or medium security inmates in a facility
50	50	authorized by this subchapter. An inmate confined in a facility
51	51	authorized by this subchapter remains in the legal custody of the
52	52	institutional division .
53	53	Sec. 495.003. CONTRACT PROPOSALS; QUALIFICATIONS AND
54	54	STANDARDS. (a) The board may not award a contract under this
55	55	subchapter unless the board requests proposals and receives a
56	56	proposal that meets or exceeds, in addition to requirements
57	57	specified in the request for proposals, the requirements specified
58	58	in Subsections (b), (c), and (d).
59	59	(b) A person proposing to enter a contract with the board
60	60	under this subchapter must demonstrate:
61	61	(1) the qualifications and the operations and
62	62	management experience to carry out the terms of the contract; and
63	63	(2) the ability to comply with the standards of the
64	64	American Correctional Association and with specific court orders.
65	65	(c) In addition to meeting the requirements specified in the
66	66	requests for proposals, a proposal must:
67	67	(1) provide for regular, on-site monitoring by the
68	68	institutional division;
69	69	(2) acknowledge that payment by the state is subject
70	70	to the availability of appropriations;
71	71	(3) provide for payment of a maximum amount per
72	72	biennium;
73	73	(4) offer a level and quality of programs at least
74	74	equal to those provided by state-operated facilities that house
75	75	similar types of inmates and at a cost that provides the state with
76	76	a savings of not less than 10 percent of the cost of housing inmates
77	77	in similar facilities and providing similar programs to those types
78	78	of inmates in state-operated facilities;
79	79	(5) permit the state to terminate the contract for
80	80	cause, including as cause the failure of the private vendor or
81	81	county to meet the conditions required by this subchapter and other
82	82	conditions required by the contract;
83	83	(6) provide that cost adjustments may be made only
84	84	once each fiscal year, to take effect at the beginning of the next
85	85	fiscal year;
86	86	(7) have an initial contract term of not more than
87	87	three years, with an option to renew for additional periods of two
88	88	years;
89	89	(8) if the proposal includes construction of a
90	90	facility, contain a performance bond approved by the board that is
91	91	adequate and appropriate for the proposed contract;
92	92	(9) provide for assumption of liability by the private
93	93	vendor ora county for all claims arising from the services
94	94	performed under the contract by the private vendor or county;
95	95	(10) provide for an adequate plan of insurance for the
96	96	private vendor or county and its officers, guards, employees, and
97	97	agents against all claims, including claims based on violations of
98	98	civil rights arising from the services performed under the contract
99	99	by the private vendor or county;
100	100	(11) provide for an adequate plan of insurance to
101	101	protect the state against all claims arising from the services
102	102	performed under the contract by the private vendor or county and to
103	103	protect the state from actions by a third party against the private
104	104	vendor or county, its officers, guards, employees, and agents as a
105	105	result of the contract;
106	106	(12) provide plans for the purchase and assumption of
107	107	operations by the state in the event of the bankruptcy of the
108	108	private vendor or inability of the county to perform its duties
109	109	under the contract; and
110	110	(13) contain comprehensive standards for conditions
111	111	of confinement.
112	112	(d) Before the commissioners court of a county proposes to
113	113	enter into a contract under this subchapter, the commissioners
114	114	court of the county must receive the written approval of the sheriff
115	115	of the county. A sheriff may not unreasonably withhold written
116	116	approval under this subsection. A correctional facility provided by
117	117	a county under this subchapter is subject to the same standards and
118	118	requirements as a correctional facility provided by a private
119	119	vendor.
120	120	(e) The Legislative Budget Board determines the costs and
121	121	cost savings under Subsection (c)(4) and may consider any relevant
122	122	factor, including additional costs to the state for providing the
123	123	same service as a private vendor or county, indirect costs properly
124	124	allocable to either the state or the private vendor or county, and
125	125	continuing costs to the state directly associated with the
126	126	contract.
127	127	Sec. 495.004. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OVER INMATES. A
128	128	private vendor or county operating under a contract authorized by
129	129	this subchapter may not:
130	130	(1) compute inmate release and parole eligibility
131	131	dates;
132	132	(2) award good conduct time;
133	133	(3) approve an inmate for work, medical, or temporary
134	134	furlough or for preparole transfer; or
135	135	(4) classify an inmate or place an inmate in less
136	136	restrictive custody than the custody ordered by the institutional
137	137	division.
138	138	Sec. 495.005. CIVIL LIABILITY. A private vendor operating
139	139	under a contract authorized by this subchapter may not claim
140	140	sovereign immunity in a suit arising from the services performed
141	141	under the contract by the private vendor or county. This section
142	142	does not deprive the private vendor or the state of the benefit of
143	143	any law limiting exposure to liability, setting a limit on damages,
144	144	or establishing a defense to liability.
145	145	Sec. 495.006. CONVERSION OF FACILITY. The board may not
146	146	convert a facility into a correctional facility operated by a
147	147	private vendor or by a county if, before April 14, 1987, the
148	148	facility is:
149	149	(1) operated as a correctional facility by the board;
150	150	or
151	151	(2) being constructed by the board for use as a
152	152	correctional facility.
153	153	Sec. 495.007. LIMITATION. The board may not enter into
154	154	contracts under this subchapter for more than 5,5808,000 beds.
155	155	Sec. 495.008. AUDITING AND MONITORING CONTRACTS. (a) The
156	156	department shall develop a comprehensive methodology for enhanced
157	157	auditing and monitoring of all facilities operated under contract
158	158	with the department that house inmates of the department and
159	159	releasees under the supervision of the department. To achieve this
160	160	objective, the department shall first review existing auditing,
161	161	monitoring, and oversight capabilities of the department to
162	162	determine what further procedures and resources are necessary to
163	163	achieve this goal.
164	164	(b) The department shall ensure that all new and renewed
165	165	contracts described by Subsection (a) include:
166	166	(1) a provision that the department or a designee of
167	167	the department may conduct periodic contract compliance reviews,
168	168	without advance notice, to monitor vendor performance;
169	169	(2) minimum acceptable standards of performance
170	170	prescribed by the department that include provisions regarding the
171	171	health, safety, and welfare of inmates and releasees;
172	172	(3) a provision that if a review determines that a
173	173	vendorcounty is not in compliance with the contract, the
174	174	department may require that the county'svendor's per diem
175	175	compensation be withheld until the countyvendor meets contract
176	176	requirements or the vendor is replaced;
177	177	(4) a provision requiring a vendor not in compliance
178	178	with the contract to implement a plan of corrective action approved
179	179	by the department; and
180	180	(5) a provision under which the state is indemnified
181	181	for costs of litigation and for any damages in lawsuits alleging
182	182	that the health, safety, or welfare of an inmate or releasee in a
183	183	contract facility is not protected.
184	184	(c) The department shall complete at least one enhanced
185	185	audit for each facility described by Subsection (a), without regard
186	186	to whether the facility is operated by a public or private vendor.
187	187	The enhanced audit must include an enhanced contract compliance
188	188	review of any vendors hired by a community supervision and
189	189	corrections department to operate a facility.
190	190	(d) The department, in conjunction with an advisory
191	191	committee composed of state officials and private officials from
192	192	within the industry, shall adopt rules to implement the
193	193	requirements of this section.
194	194	(e) The department shall develop an appeals process,
195	195	incorporated by reference into all new and renewed contracts, under
196	196	which a countyvendor may appeal any imposed sanction under the
197	197	contract, with the appeals process including the right to a formal
198	198	hearing and a right to a final determination by the board.
199	199	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.