88R4316 MCF-D
By: Harless H.B. No. 1563
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the confinement in a county jail of a person pending a
transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and to the
compensation for certain costs of confinement.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 499.071, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 499.071. SCHEDULED ADMISSIONS POLICY. The board shall
adopt and enforce a scheduled admissions policy that requires
[permits] the department [institutional division] to accept
persons [inmates] within 45 days of processing as required by
Section 499.1215 [499.121(c)].
SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 499, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 499.1215 to read as follows:
Sec. 499.1215. TRANSFER TO DEPARTMENT; COMPENSATION TO
COUNTIES. (a) The department shall take custody of a person
awaiting transfer to the department following conviction of a
felony not later than the 45th day following the date on which all
processing required for transfer has been completed.
(b) If the department does not take custody of a person
within the period prescribed by Subsection (a), the department
shall compensate the county for the cost of confinement for each day
that the person remains confined in the county jail following the
expiration of that period. The compensation must be equal to the
amount that would have been incurred by the department to confine
the person for that period.
SECTION 3. Section 499.121(c), Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 4. Not later than December 31, 2023, the Texas Board
of Criminal Justice shall adopt the scheduled admissions policy
required by Section 499.071, Government Code, as amended by this
Act.
SECTION 5. Section 499.1215, Government Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to compensation to a county for the cost of
confinement of a person that occurs on or after January 1, 2024,
regardless of whether all processing required for transfer of the
person to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is completed
before, on, or after that date.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.