H.B. No. 2620
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
compensation to a county 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:
(1) review documents received under Section 8(a) or
(c), Article 42.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, and certify the
documents or notify the county that the documents require
corrective action within the time period required by Section 8(b)
of that article; and
(2) accept persons [inmates] within the time period
[45 days of processing as] required by Section 499.1215(b)
[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) In this section, "cost of confinement" means the
amount that would have been incurred by the department to confine a
person. The term does not include costs for medical, behavioral, or
pharmaceutical care.
(b) The department shall take custody of a person awaiting
transfer to the department following conviction of a felony and
sentencing to death or to a term of imprisonment in the department
or confinement in a state jail not later than the 45th day following
the date on which all documents required by Sections 8(a) and (c),
Article 42.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, have been certified as
required by Section 8(b) of that article.
(c) If the department does not take custody of a person
within the period prescribed by Subsection (b), the department
shall compensate the county for the cost of confinement for each day
the person remains confined in the county jail following the
expiration of that period.
(d) If a person remains confined in the county jail
following the expiration of the period prescribed by Subsection (b)
due to a delay caused by the county:
(1) the county is not entitled to compensation under
Subsection (c) for any day that the person remains confined due to
the delay caused by the county; and
(2) the county and the department shall arrange to
transfer the person to the department as soon as practicable after
the delay.
SECTION 3. Section 8, Article 42.09, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding
Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall not take
a defendant into custody under this article until the designated
officer receives the documents required by Subsections (a) and (c)
of this section and determines that the documents do not contain any
errors or deficiencies requiring corrective action by the county.
Not later than the fifth business day after the date of receipt of
[The designated officer shall certify under the seal of the
department] the documents, the designated officer shall:
(1) certify the documents under the seal of the
department if the designated officer determines the documents do
not require any corrective action; or
(2) notify the county that the designated officer has
determined that the documents require corrective action [received
under Subsections (a) and (c) of this section].
(b-1) A document certified under Subsection (b) [this
subsection] is self-authenticated for the purposes of Rules 901 and
902, Texas Rules of Evidence.
SECTION 4. Section 499.121(c), Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 5. Not later than September 30, 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 6. Section 499.1215, Government Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to compensation to a county for the costs
described by that section related to the confinement of a person
that occurs on or after October 1, 2023, regardless of whether the
requirements under that section for transfer of the person to the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice are completed before, on, or
after that date.
SECTION 7. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2620 was passed by the House on April
21, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2620 on May 25, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2620 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 21, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor