88R3908 MZM-F
By: Clardy H.B. No. 4145
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to salaries for staff of a private vendor contracting with
the Texas Board of Criminal Justice for the operation, maintenance,
or management of a correctional facility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 495.003(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) In addition to meeting the requirements specified in the
requests for proposals, a proposal must:
(1) provide for regular, on-site monitoring by the
institutional division;
(2) acknowledge that payment by the state is subject
to the availability of appropriations;
(3) provide for payment of a maximum amount per
biennium;
(4) offer a level and quality of programs at least
equal to those provided by state-operated facilities that house
similar types of inmates and at a cost that provides the state with
a savings of not less than 10 percent of the cost of housing inmates
in similar facilities and providing similar programs to those types
of inmates in state-operated facilities;
(5) permit the state to terminate the contract for
cause, including as cause the failure of the private vendor or
county to meet the conditions required by this subchapter and other
conditions required by the contract;
(6) provide that cost adjustments may be made only
once each fiscal year, to take effect at the beginning of the next
fiscal year;
(7) have an initial contract term of not more than
three years, with an option to renew for additional periods of two
years;
(8) if the proposal includes construction of a
facility, contain a performance bond approved by the board that is
adequate and appropriate for the proposed contract;
(9) provide for assumption of liability by the private
vendor or county for all claims arising from the services performed
under the contract by the private vendor or county;
(10) provide for an adequate plan of insurance for the
private vendor or county and its officers, guards, employees, and
agents against all claims, including claims based on violations of
civil rights arising from the services performed under the contract
by the private vendor or county;
(11) provide for an adequate plan of insurance to
protect the state against all claims arising from the services
performed under the contract by the private vendor or county and to
protect the state from actions by a third party against the private
vendor or county, its officers, guards, employees, and agents as a
result of the contract;
(12) provide plans for the purchase and assumption of
operations by the state in the event of the bankruptcy of the
private vendor or inability of the county to perform its duties
under the contract; [and]
(13) contain comprehensive standards for conditions
of confinement; and
(14) if the proposal is submitted by a private vendor
for the operation, maintenance, or management of a secure
correctional facility, provide that:
(A) salaries of staff at the facility are not
less than 90 percent of salaries of similarly situated staff
members at state-operated facilities; and
(B) salary increases are provided to staff at the
facility at similar intervals to those of similarly situated staff
members at state-operated facilities.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a contract for which the request for proposals is issued on or
after the effective date of this Act. A contract for which the
request for proposals is issued before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the request for
proposals was issued, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.