BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 5141

By: Howard

Public Health

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that there is a lack of sufficient locations in Travis County where law enforcement or first responders can drop off people having a behavioral health crisis. The bill author has also informed the committee that this creates confusion regarding where to take people in crisis and creates capacity issues for the local emergency departments. The bill author has further informed the committee that implementing a jail diversion center could lessen the likelihood of arrest for those experiencing unmet mental health needs, establish partnerships with existing healthcare providers across the county, and improve health outcomes and access. C.S.H.B. 5141 seeks to address this issue by providing for the lease of certain state property from the Health and Human Services Commission to Travis County to establish a jail diversion center with the intent of providing a comprehensive range of services to deflect and divert individuals from unnecessary incarceration and connect them with appropriate care and support resources.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 5141 requires the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to lease to Travis County certain real property as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date. The bill sets out the metes and bounds of that property, restricts the county's use of the property to use in a manner that primarily promotes a public purpose of the state, and provides for the lease's termination and the property's ownership to revert back to HHSC automatically if the county fails to use the property in such a manner for more than 180 continuous days. The bill requires HHSC to lease the property by an appropriate instrument of transfer, which must describe the leased property by metes and bounds and include provisions regarding the bill's restriction on the property's use, the circumstances under which the ownership will be reverted to HHSC upon lease termination, the duration of the lease term, and certain authorizations for the county relating to the maintenance of and construction on the property. The bill requires HHSC to retain custody of the instrument of transfer after it is filed in the county's real property records. The bill exempts the lease of real property from Health and Safety Code provisions governing management of surplus real property and the lease of real property and from Natural Resources Code provisions governing real estate transactions authorized by the legislature.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 5141 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Whereas the introduced required the Department of State Health Services to lease to Travis County certain real property as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date, the substitute instead requires HHSC to do so. Accordingly, the substitute updates references to "the Department of State Health Services" in the introduced with references to "the Health and Human Services Commission."