By: Parker S.B. No. 175
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the authority of the Commission on Jail Standards to
1-2 regulate the temporary housing of county inmates in certain
1-3 facilities to alleviate overcrowding in county jails.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 351, Local Government Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Section 351.0035 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 351.0035. TEMPORARY HOUSING. (a) On request of the
1-8 commissioners court of a county, the Commission on Jail Standards
1-9 shall authorize a county to house a prisoner in a tent or other
1-10 facility that is not a county jail if:
1-11 (1) the county by accepting the prisoner will cause
1-12 each county jail located in the county to reach or exceed 95
1-13 percent of the county jail's capacity; and
1-14 (2) the commissioners court of the county has
1-15 authorized the construction of a new county jail, or the expansion
1-16 of an existing county jail, that complies with the jail standards
1-17 under this subchapter.
1-18 (b) The commissioners court of a county may not make a
1-19 request under Subsection (a) unless the commissioners court first
1-20 receives the written approval of the sheriff of the county. On the
1-21 request of the commissioners court, the sheriff shall approve the
1-22 submission of a request under Subsection (a) unless the sheriff
1-23 reasonably finds good cause for withholding approval.
1-24 (c) A county may not temporarily house a prisoner under this
2-1 section if:
2-2 (1) the executive director of the Commission on Jail
2-3 Standards determines that the county is not making a good faith
2-4 effort to proceed with the construction of the new or expanded
2-5 county jail;
2-6 (2) the prisoner population at a county jail in the
2-7 county is below 95 percent of the county jail's capacity at any
2-8 time before the county transfers the prisoner to the new or
2-9 expanded county jail; or
2-10 (3) the executive director of the Commission on Jail
2-11 Standards determines that the county is in violation of a rule
2-12 adopted under Subsection (d).
2-13 (d) The Commission on Jail Standards shall adopt rules that
2-14 govern the temporary housing of prisoners, including a specific
2-15 requirement for:
2-16 (1) the classification and separation of prisoners;
2-17 (2) the supervision of prisoners;
2-18 (3) safety, sanitation, and health;
2-19 (4) the structure and maintenance of the facility;
2-20 (5) the provision of bunks or sleeping areas for
2-21 prisoners or other furnishings for the facility;
2-22 (6) the space and capacity in the facility; and
2-23 (7) the enforcement of a rule the commission adopts
2-24 under this subsection.
2-25 (e) A rule adopted under Subsection (d) must be consistent
2-26 with the jail standards imposed by or adopted under other
2-27 provisions of this subchapter unless the Commission on Jail
3-1 Standards determines compliance is not practicable or reasonable.
3-2 SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 351, Local Government Code,
3-3 is amended by adding Section 351.0036 to read as follows:
3-4 Sec. 351.0036. HOUSING OF CORRECTIONAL PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS.
3-5 (a) Notwithstanding the requirements of Section 351.0035, the
3-6 Commission on Jail Standards is hereby authorized to adopt rules
3-7 governing the temporary housing of prisoners in connection with
3-8 specific correctional programs which include work camps, wilderness
3-9 camps, forestry camps, or boot camps.
3-10 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-15 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-16 passage, and it is so enacted.