By: Meza H.B. No. 5349
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a quality assurance audit of the provision of health
care to inmates by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 501.1472 to read as follows:
Sec. 501.1472. QUALITY ASSURANCE AUDIT. (a) The
department shall provide for a quality assurance audit of the
correctional health care system to be performed by an independent
third-party auditor not less than once every five years. The audit
must:
(1) assess the department's:
(A) delivery of medical, behavioral, and mental
health care services; and
(B) compliance with state and federal law
applicable to the provision of health care to inmates;
(2) evaluate:
(A) the performance of any vendors used to
provide a service described by Subdivision (1)(A); and
(B) the extent to which the department's
provision of health care to inmates conforms to industry best
practices and national correctional health care standards; and
(3) provide specific recommendations for the
department to address any identified deficiencies.
(b) The department shall post the report of an audit under
Subsection (a) in a conspicuous location on the department's
publicly accessible Internet website.
(c) The board shall hold a public meeting to consider the
report and may request that the auditor present the results of the
audit to the board at the meeting.
SECTION 2. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
provide for the first audit required by Section 501.1472,
Government Code, as added by this Act, to be completed not later
than December 1, 2026.
SECTION 3. 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, 2025.