1-1 By: Parker S.B. No. 175
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 26, 1993; January 27, 1993,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
1-4 March 16, 1993, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5,
1-5 Nays 0; March 16, 1993, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE VOTE
1-7 Yea Nay PNV Absent
1-8 Whitmire x
1-9 Brown x
1-10 Nelson x
1-11 Sibley x
1-12 Sims x
1-13 Turner x
1-14 West x
1-15 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-16 AN ACT
1-17 relating to the authority of the Commission on Jail Standards to
1-18 regulate the temporary housing of county inmates in certain
1-19 facilities to alleviate overcrowding in county jails.
1-20 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-21 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 351, Local Government Code,
1-22 is amended by adding Section 351.0035 to read as follows:
1-23 Sec. 351.0035. TEMPORARY HOUSING. (a) On request of the
1-24 commissioners court of a county, the Commission on Jail Standards
1-25 shall authorize a county to house a prisoner in a tent or other
1-26 facility that is not a county jail if:
1-27 (1) the county by accepting the prisoner will cause
1-28 each county jail located in the county to reach or exceed 95
1-29 percent of the county jail's capacity; and
1-30 (2) the commissioners court of the county has
1-31 authorized the construction of a new county jail, or the expansion
1-32 of an existing county jail, that complies with the jail standards
1-33 under this subchapter.
1-34 (b) The commissioners court of a county may not make a
1-35 request under Subsection (a) unless the commissioners court first
1-36 receives the written approval of the sheriff of the county. On the
1-37 request of the commissioners court, the sheriff shall approve the
1-38 submission of a request under Subsection (a) unless the sheriff
1-39 reasonably finds good cause for withholding approval.
1-40 (c) A county may not temporarily house a prisoner under this
1-41 section if:
1-42 (1) the executive director of the Commission on Jail
1-43 Standards determines that the county is not making a good faith
1-44 effort to proceed with the construction of the new or expanded
1-45 county jail;
1-46 (2) the prisoner population at a county jail in the
1-47 county is below 95 percent of the county jail's capacity at any
1-48 time before the county transfers the prisoner to the new or
1-49 expanded county jail; or
1-50 (3) the executive director of the Commission on Jail
1-51 Standards determines that the county is in violation of a rule
1-52 adopted under Subsection (d).
1-53 (d) The Commission on Jail Standards shall adopt rules that
1-54 govern the temporary housing of prisoners, including a specific
1-55 requirement for:
1-56 (1) the classification and separation of prisoners;
1-57 (2) the supervision of prisoners;
1-58 (3) safety, sanitation, and health;
1-59 (4) the structure and maintenance of the facility;
1-60 (5) the provision of bunks or sleeping areas for
1-61 prisoners or other furnishings for the facility;
1-62 (6) the space and capacity in the facility; and
1-63 (7) the enforcement of a rule the commission adopts
1-64 under this subsection.
1-65 (e) A rule adopted under Subsection (d) must be consistent
1-66 with the jail standards imposed by or adopted under other
1-67 provisions of this subchapter unless the Commission on Jail
1-68 Standards determines compliance is not practicable or reasonable.
2-1 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
2-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-6 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-7 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-8 * * * * *
2-9 Austin,
2-10 Texas
2-11 March 16, 1993
2-12 Hon. Bob Bullock
2-13 President of the Senate
2-14 Sir:
2-15 We, your Committee on Criminal Justice to which was referred S.B.
2-16 No. 175, have had the same under consideration, and I am instructed
2-17 to report it back to the Senate with the recommendation that it do
2-18 pass and be printed.
2-19 Whitmire,
2-20 Chairman
2-21 * * * * *
2-22 WITNESSES
2-23 FOR AGAINST ON
2-24 ___________________________________________________________________
2-25 Name: Wayne Godneck x
2-26 Representing: Tx Comm on Jail Standards
2-27 City: Austin
2-28 -------------------------------------------------------------------
2-29 Name: Ira Calkins x
2-30 Representing: Self
2-31 City: Austin
2-32 -------------------------------------------------------------------
2-33 Name: Carl Griffith, Jr. x
2-34 Representing: Sheriff's Assn
2-35 City: Beaumont
2-36 -------------------------------------------------------------------