88R10216 MCF-D
By: AnchÃa H.B. No. 3547
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the required approval of certain hospital visits as a
condition of release on parole or to mandatory supervision for
certain releasees and to the hospital's liability for damages
resulting from those visits.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Pokuaa-Flowers Act.
SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 508, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 508.193 to read as follows:
Sec. 508.193. REQUIRED APPROVAL OF CERTAIN HOSPITAL VISITS.
(a) A parole panel that requires a releasee serving a sentence for
an offense listed in Article 42A.054(a), Code of Criminal
Procedure, or for which the judgment contains an affirmative
finding under Article 42A.054(c) or (d), Code of Criminal
Procedure, to submit to electronic monitoring as a condition of
release on parole or to mandatory supervision shall, as an
additional condition of release, prohibit the releasee from
visiting a hospital for a purpose other than to receive emergency
medical care unless the parole officer supervising the releasee
approves the releasee's request to visit the hospital prior to the
visit.
(b) A releasee's request to visit a hospital must specify
the date and time of the intended visit and the reason for the
visit.
(c) A parole officer who approves a visit under Subsection
(a) shall promptly notify the chief law enforcement officer for the
hospital, or a local law enforcement agency if the hospital does not
employ any peace officers, of the date and time of the releasee's
intended visit.
(d) On a finding by the division that a parole officer
intentionally failed to comply with the requirements of Subsection
(c), the division shall begin disciplinary procedures against the
officer.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, a hospital is not liable
to a patient or another person for damages resulting from a visit by
a releasee described by Subsection (a).
SECTION 3. Section 508.193, Government Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to a person who is released on parole or to
mandatory supervision on or after the effective date of this Act. A
person who is released on parole or to mandatory supervision before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at
the time of release, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.