1-1 By: Johnson, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Haley) H.B. No. 864
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House March 17, 1993;
1-3 March 18, 1993, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Economic Development; April 6, 1993, reported favorably by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 6, 1993, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE VOTE
1-7 Yea Nay PNV Absent
1-8 Parker x
1-9 Lucio x
1-10 Ellis x
1-11 Haley x
1-12 Harris of Dallas x
1-13 Harris of Tarrant x
1-14 Leedom x
1-15 Madla x
1-16 Rosson x
1-17 Shapiro x
1-18 Wentworth x
1-19 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-20 AN ACT
1-21 relating to work programs for inmates confined in county jail
1-22 awaiting transfer to the institutional division of the Texas
1-23 Department of Criminal Justice.
1-24 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-25 SECTION 1. Article 43.101, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-26 amended to read as follows:
1-27 Art. 43.101. VOLUNTARY WORK BY PRETRIAL DETAINEES AND
1-28 DEFENDANTS AWAITING TRANSFER. (a) A defendant confined in county
1-29 jail awaiting trial or awaiting transfer to the institutional
1-30 division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice following
1-31 conviction or revocation of probation, parole, or mandatory
1-32 supervision may volunteer to participate in any work program
1-33 operated by the sheriff that uses the labor of convicted
1-34 misdemeanants <defendants>.
1-35 (b) The sheriff may accept a defendant as a volunteer under
1-36 Subsection (a) of this article <section> if the defendant is not
1-37 awaiting trial for or convicted of an offense involving violence,
1-38 and if the sheriff determines that the inmate has not engaged
1-39 previously in violent conduct and does not pose a security risk to
1-40 the general public if allowed to participate in the work program.
1-41 (c) A sheriff, employee of a sheriff's department, county
1-42 commissioner, county employee, or county judge is not liable for
1-43 damages arising from an act or failure to act in connection with
1-44 manual labor performed by an inmate under this article if the act
1-45 or failure to act was not intentional, wilfully or wantonly
1-46 negligent, or performed with conscious indifference or reckless
1-47 disregard for the safety of others <The limitations on liability of
1-48 a county for damages suffered by an inmate participating in a work
1-49 program operated by the sheriff apply to a defendant who volunteers
1-50 under Subsection (a) of this article in the same manner as if the
1-51 inmate were participating in the program after conviction of an
1-52 offense>.
1-53 SECTION 2. Section 498.003(e), Government Code, is amended
1-54 to read as follows:
1-55 (e) If a person confined in a county jail is transferred to
1-56 the institutional division, the director of the institutional
1-57 division shall award good conduct time to the person up to an
1-58 amount equal to that which the person could have accrued during the
1-59 period of imprisonment in the county jail if instead the person had
1-60 been incarcerated in the division during that period. The director
1-61 of the institutional division shall award good conduct time to a
1-62 defendant for diligent participation in a voluntary work program
1-63 operated by a sheriff under Article 43.101, Code of Criminal
1-64 Procedure, in the same manner as if the inmate had diligently
1-65 participated in an industrial program or other work program
1-66 provided to inmates by the institutional division. The sheriff of
1-67 each county shall have attached a certification of the number of
1-68 days each inmate diligently participated in the volunteer work
2-1 program operated by the sheriff under Article 43.101, Code of
2-2 Criminal Procedure.
2-3 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-8 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-9 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-10 * * * * *
2-11 Austin,
2-12 Texas
2-13 April 6, 1993
2-14 Hon. Bob Bullock
2-15 President of the Senate
2-16 Sir:
2-17 We, your Committee on Economic Development to which was referred
2-18 H.B. No. 864, have had the same under consideration, and I am
2-19 instructed to report it back to the Senate with the recommendation
2-20 that it do pass and be printed.
2-21 Parker,
2-22 Chairman
2-23 * * * * *
2-24 WITNESSES
2-25 FOR AGAINST ON
2-26 ___________________________________________________________________
2-27 Name: Ron Harris, Collin County Judge x
2-28 Representing: Collin County
2-29 City: McKinney
2-30 -------------------------------------------------------------------
2-31 Name: Arlan Foster x
2-32 Representing: Tx Conf. of Police & Sheriffs
2-33 City: Baytown
2-34 -------------------------------------------------------------------
2-35 Name: Lynwood Moreau x
2-36 Representing: Harris Co. Deputy Sheriff's Un
2-37 City: Houston
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