By: Whitmire S.B. No. 378
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to maximizing the availability of federal funds to the
1-2 Texas Department of Criminal Justice and to the efficient and
1-3 economical operation of the department.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 ARTICLE 1
1-6 SECTION 1.01. Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by
1-7 adding Section 493.013 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 493.013. FEDERAL FUNDS COMMITTEE. (a) The board shall
1-9 ensure that the federal funds committee of the department includes
1-10 representatives of all divisions of the department that may be able
1-11 to assist the committee in identifying and qualifying for
1-12 additional federal funds, specifically including the offices of the
1-13 institutional division that manage agricultural and industrial
1-14 issues.
1-15 (b) The board shall require the committee to:
1-16 (1) maximize federal grant and entitlement funding
1-17 available to the state;
1-18 (2) submit biennially to the board a detailed report
1-19 that includes information on all federal grants and entitlements
1-20 identified and applied for by the committee and the results of the
1-21 applications; and
1-22 (3) work in conjunction with the Office of
1-23 State-Federal Relations to investigate the applicability of:
1-24 (A) the national school lunch program to inmates
2-1 who are pursuing a primary or secondary education while confined in
2-2 the institutional division; and
2-3 (B) the food stamp program administered under
2-4 Chapter 33, Human Resources Code, to inmates who are confined and
2-5 treated in substance abuse felony punishment facilities.
2-6 ARTICLE 2
2-7 SECTION 2.01. Section 494.007, Government Code, is amended
2-8 to read as follows:
2-9 Sec. 494.007. Employees' Salaries, Room and Board, Medical
2-10 Care. (a) Salaries of employees of the institutional division and
2-11 the provision of board, lodging, uniforms, and other provisions to
2-12 employees are as provided by the General Appropriations Act.
2-13 (b) The department, in preparing its biennial budget
2-14 request, shall review the rent charged department employees for
2-15 state-owned housing and the department's policy of providing
2-16 rent-free state-owned housing to certain employees. The
2-17 department, as part of the budget request, shall adjust the rent
2-18 charged employees as necessary to more closely reflect the market
2-19 value of the housing and shall adjust the list of employees
2-20 receiving rent-free housing if necessary to comply with the General
2-21 Appropriations Act, state law, or policies on rent-free housing
2-22 adopted by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. If the
2-23 department determines that no adjustment in rent charged to
2-24 employees is necessary for a biennium, the department shall state
2-25 that fact in the department's budget request.
2-26 (c) Employees of the institutional division who are injured
2-27 in the line of duty are entitled to receive free medical care and
3-1 hospitalization from division doctors and the division hospital.
3-2 ARTICLE 3
3-3 SECTION 3.01. Chapter 494, Government Code, is amended by
3-4 adding Section 494.011 to read as follows:
3-5 Sec. 494.011. ASSESSMENT OF UNIT DESIGN AND SECURITY
3-6 SYSTEMS. (a) In order to ensure that the institutional division
3-7 is managed effectively, the division not less than once every three
3-8 years shall assess the long-term administrative segregation and
3-9 maximum security needs of the division. The institutional division
3-10 shall report to the Legislative Criminal Justice Board the results
3-11 of each assessment made under this section not later than one year
3-12 after the assessment is completed.
3-13 (b) The institutional division shall include in the
3-14 assessment:
3-15 (1) a feasibility study on the conversion of at least
3-16 one maximum security facility into a medium security facility;
3-17 (2) a review of the division's unit design prototypes
3-18 to determine whether the prototypes could be improved by:
3-19 (A) the use of new technologies;
3-20 (B) redesign of interiors and exteriors to
3-21 improve visibility within the prototypes; or
3-22 (C) the use of other cost-saving measures;
3-23 (3) a feasibility study on increased use of
3-24 closed-circuit camera technology, electronic perimeter detection
3-25 technology, or other electronic technology; and
3-26 (4) a review of any other issues the division
3-27 determines are relevant to the continued improvement and
4-1 cost-effectiveness of the system's security system.
4-2 (c) The institutional division shall include in the report
4-3 to the Legislative Criminal Justice Board required by Subsection
4-4 (a) with the results of the assessment:
4-5 (1) a description, with documentation, of the
4-6 distribution of levels of security within the institutional
4-7 division;
4-8 (2) a comparison of the distribution of levels of
4-9 security within the division to the distribution of levels of
4-10 security in prisons in other states; and
4-11 (3) if there is a disparity between the distribution
4-12 of levels of security within the institutional division and that in
4-13 prisons in other states, a discussion of whether that disparity is
4-14 in the best interest of the institutional division.
4-15 SECTION 3.02. The institutional division of the Texas
4-16 Department of Criminal Justice shall complete the first assessment
4-17 required by Section 494.011, Government Code, as added by this
4-18 article, not later than December 31, 1993.
4-19 ARTICLE 4
4-20 SECTION 4.01. Chapter 494, Government Code, is amended by
4-21 adding Section 494.012 to read as follows:
4-22 Sec. 494.012. MAINTENANCE STAFF. (a) The director of the
4-23 institutional division shall evaluate the efficiency of the
4-24 maintenance staff of each unit of the division.
4-25 (b) The institutional division may assign a staff member to
4-26 more than one unit of the division to increase the efficiency of
4-27 the maintenance staff.
5-1 (c) The institutional division shall assign a maintenance
5-2 staff member to two or more units of the division if the division
5-3 determines that such an assignment is cost-effective.
5-4 (d) The institutional division may not employ an assistant
5-5 unit maintenance manager for a maintenance staff of a unit of the
5-6 division unless the division determines that the employment of an
5-7 assistant unit manager at that unit is cost-effective.
5-8 SECTION 4.02. Chapter 496, Government Code, is amended by
5-9 adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
5-10 SUBCHAPTER C. MANAGEMENT OF PROPERTY
5-11 Sec. 496.101. AUTOMATED INVENTORY AND MAINTENANCE SYSTEM.
5-12 (a) The department shall establish for each unit of the
5-13 institutional division an automated inventory and maintenance
5-14 system that interacts with the centralized computer system of the
5-15 department.
5-16 (b) The system must maintain inventory records for parts and
5-17 supplies control, monitor preventive maintenance and warranty
5-18 schedules for equipment, estimate time standards for maintenance
5-19 jobs, and organize a work order control process.
5-20 ARTICLE 5
5-21 SECTION 5.01. Chapter 494, Government Code, is amended by
5-22 adding Section 494.013 to read as follows:
5-23 Sec. 494.013. COMPUTER UTILIZATION STUDY. (a) The
5-24 Department of Information Resources shall conduct a study of the
5-25 underutilization of computers by the institutional division. The
5-26 department shall identify areas in which the division may increase
5-27 efficiency and productivity through the use of computers.
6-1 (b) The Department of Information Resources shall develop
6-2 strategies for the institutional division for expanding or
6-3 implementing the use of computers to support word processing and
6-4 for maintaining, processing, or analyzing information in areas such
6-5 as equipment or property management, maintenance and supplies
6-6 costs, inmate disturbances, cell allocation, inmate population,
6-7 visitors, local key control, budgeting, staff management, and
6-8 legislation affecting inmate population.
6-9 (c) The Department of Information Resources shall complete
6-10 the study and develop the strategies required by this section not
6-11 later than September 1, 1994. The Texas Board of Criminal Justice
6-12 shall request from the legislature at the earliest opportunity any
6-13 legislation or appropriations necessary for the implementation of
6-14 the strategies. This section expires January 31, 1995.
6-15 ARTICLE 6
6-16 SECTION 6.01. Section 495.007, Government Code, is amended
6-17 to read as follows:
6-18 Sec. 495.007. LIMITATION. The board may not enter into
6-19 contracts under this subchapter for more than 4,080 <4,000> beds.
6-20 ARTICLE 7
6-21 SECTION 7.01. Subsection (b), Section 501.015, Government
6-22 Code, is amended to read as follows:
6-23 (b) When an inmate is discharged or is released on parole,
6-24 mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon, the inmate is
6-25 entitled to receive $100 <$200> from the department and
6-26 transportation at the expense of the department to the location at
6-27 which the inmate is required to report to a parole officer
7-1 <institutional division as provided by this subsection. The
7-2 department shall give the inmate $100 on discharge. A parole
7-3 officer to whom the inmate is required to report> by the pardons
7-4 and paroles division <shall give the inmate the remaining $100 if
7-5 the inmate reports to the officer within the time specified by the
7-6 board>. If an inmate is released and is not required by the
7-7 pardons and paroles division to report to a parole officer or is
7-8 authorized by the pardons and paroles division to report to a
7-9 location outside this state, the department <institutional
7-10 division> shall provide the inmate, at the expense of the
7-11 department, with transportation to:
7-12 (1) the location of the inmate's residence, if the
7-13 residence is in this state; or
7-14 (2) a transit point determined appropriate by the
7-15 department, if the inmate's residence is outside this state or the
7-16 inmate is required by the pardons and paroles division to report to
7-17 a location outside this state <give the inmate $200 on discharge or
7-18 release>.
7-19 ARTICLE 8
7-20 SECTION 8.01. Subchapter B, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
7-21 amended by adding Section 501.059 to read as follows:
7-22 Sec. 501.059. MANAGED HEALTH CARE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
7-23 (a) The Managed Health Care Advisory Committee to the Texas
7-24 Department of Criminal Justice is established.
7-25 (b) The committee consists of:
7-26 (1) two members employed full-time by the department,
7-27 at least one of whom is a physician, appointed by the executive
8-1 director;
8-2 (2) two members employed full-time by The University
8-3 of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, at least one of whom is a
8-4 physician, appointed by the president of the medical branch; and
8-5 (3) two members employed full-time by the Texas Tech
8-6 University Health Sciences Center, at least one of whom is a
8-7 physician, appointed by the president of the university.
8-8 (c) A committee member serves at the pleasure of the
8-9 appointing official or until termination of the member's employment
8-10 with the entity the member represents.
8-11 (d) An appointment to the committee shall be made without
8-12 regard to the race, creed, sex, religion, or national origin of the
8-13 appointee.
8-14 (e) A committee member serves without compensation but is
8-15 entitled to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses
8-16 incurred in the performance of the duties of the committee.
8-17 (f) The committee may hire a managed health care
8-18 administrator and may employ personnel necessary for the
8-19 administration of the committee's duties.
8-20 (g) The committee shall develop a managed health care plan
8-21 for all inmates at the institutional division that includes:
8-22 (1) the establishment of a preferred provider
8-23 arrangement network of physicians and hospitals that will serve the
8-24 institutional division as the exclusive health care provider for
8-25 inmates at each facility of the institutional division;
8-26 (2) cost containment studies; and
8-27 (3) care case management and utilization management
9-1 studies performed exclusively for the institutional division.
9-2 (h) To the extent possible the committee shall integrate the
9-3 preferred provider arrangement network with the public medical
9-4 schools of this state and the component hospitals of those medical
9-5 schools.
9-6 (i) After the committee determines that the preferred
9-7 provider arrangement network is fully in operation, the committee
9-8 shall initiate a competitive bidding process for contracts under
9-9 this section to provide medical care to inmates confined in the
9-10 institutional division.
9-11 (j) The committee may enter into a contract on behalf of the
9-12 department to fully implement the managed health care plan under
9-13 Subsection (g).
9-14 (k) The department shall pay necessary costs for the
9-15 operation of the committee, including costs of personnel, from
9-16 funds appropriated by the legislature to the department.
9-17 ARTICLE 9
9-18 SECTION 9.01. This Act takes effect immediately, except
9-19 that:
9-20 (1) Section 4.02 takes effect January 1, 1994; and
9-21 (2) Section 7.01 takes effect September 1, 1993.
9-22 SECTION 9.02. The importance of this legislation and the
9-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
9-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
9-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
9-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
9-27 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
10-1 terms, and it is so enacted.