S.B. No. 378
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 and the Texas Department of Human Services
1-24 to investigate the applicability of:
2-1 (A) the national school lunch program to inmates
2-2 who are pursuing a primary or secondary education while confined in
2-3 the institutional division; and
2-4 (B) the food stamp program administered under
2-5 Chapter 33, Human Resources Code, to inmates who are confined and
2-6 treated in substance abuse felony punishment facilities.
2-7 ARTICLE 2
2-8 SECTION 2.01. Section 494.007, Government Code, is amended
2-9 to read as follows:
2-10 Sec. 494.007. Employees' Salaries, Room and Board, Medical
2-11 Care. (a) Salaries of employees of the institutional division and
2-12 the provision of board, lodging, uniforms, and other provisions to
2-13 employees are as provided by the General Appropriations Act.
2-14 (b) The department, in preparing its biennial budget
2-15 request, shall review the rent charged department employees for
2-16 state-owned housing and the department's policy of providing
2-17 rent-free state-owned housing to certain employees. The
2-18 department, as part of the budget request, shall adjust the rent
2-19 charged employees as necessary to more closely reflect the market
2-20 value of the housing and shall adjust the list of employees
2-21 receiving rent-free housing if necessary to comply with the General
2-22 Appropriations Act, state law, or policies on rent-free housing
2-23 adopted by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. If the
2-24 department determines that no adjustment in rent charged to
2-25 employees is necessary for a biennium, the department shall state
2-26 that fact in the department's budget request.
2-27 (c) Employees of the institutional division who are injured
3-1 in the line of duty are entitled to receive free medical care and
3-2 hospitalization from division doctors and the division hospital.
3-3 SECTION 2.02. The requirement in Subsection (b), Section
3-4 494.007, Government Code, as added by Section 2.01 of this article,
3-5 that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice review the
3-6 department's policy on rent-free housing and review and adjust rent
3-7 charged certain department employees applies only to a budget
3-8 request made by the department after the date on which the
3-9 comptroller of public accounts certifies in writing to the chairman
3-10 of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice that state law requires each
3-11 agency or office within the judicial, legislative, or executive
3-12 department of state government to make the same review and
3-13 adjustment for housing provided its officers or employees.
3-14 ARTICLE 3
3-15 SECTION 3.01. Chapter 494, Government Code, is amended by
3-16 adding Section 494.011 to read as follows:
3-17 Sec. 494.011. ASSESSMENT OF UNIT DESIGN AND SECURITY
3-18 SYSTEMS. (a) In order to ensure that the institutional division
3-19 is managed effectively, the division not less than once every three
3-20 years shall assess the long-term administrative segregation and
3-21 maximum security needs of the division. The institutional division
3-22 shall report to the Legislative Criminal Justice Board the results
3-23 of each assessment made under this section not later than one year
3-24 after the assessment is completed.
3-25 (b) The institutional division shall include in the
3-26 assessment:
3-27 (1) a feasibility study on the conversion of at least
4-1 one maximum security facility into a medium security facility;
4-2 (2) a review of the division's unit design prototypes
4-3 to determine whether the prototypes could be improved by:
4-4 (A) the use of new technologies;
4-5 (B) redesign of interiors and exteriors to
4-6 improve visibility within the prototypes; or
4-7 (C) the use of other cost-saving measures;
4-8 (3) a feasibility study on increased use of
4-9 closed-circuit camera technology, electronic perimeter detection
4-10 technology, or other electronic technology; and
4-11 (4) a review of any other issues the division
4-12 determines are relevant to the continued improvement and
4-13 cost-effectiveness of the system's security system.
4-14 (c) The institutional division shall include in the report
4-15 to the Legislative Criminal Justice Board required by Subsection
4-16 (a) with the results of the assessment:
4-17 (1) a description, with documentation, of the
4-18 distribution of levels of security within the institutional
4-19 division;
4-20 (2) a comparison of the distribution of levels of
4-21 security within the division to the distribution of levels of
4-22 security in prisons in other states; and
4-23 (3) if there is a disparity between the distribution
4-24 of levels of security within the institutional division and that in
4-25 prisons in other states, a discussion of whether that disparity is
4-26 in the best interest of the institutional division.
4-27 SECTION 3.02. The institutional division of the Texas
5-1 Department of Criminal Justice shall complete the first assessment
5-2 required by Section 494.011, Government Code, as added by this
5-3 article, not later than December 31, 1993.
5-4 ARTICLE 4
5-5 SECTION 4.01. Chapter 494, Government Code, is amended by
5-6 adding Section 494.012 to read as follows:
5-7 Sec. 494.012. MAINTENANCE STAFF. (a) The director of the
5-8 institutional division shall evaluate the efficiency of the
5-9 maintenance staff of each unit of the division.
5-10 (b) The institutional division may assign a staff member to
5-11 more than one unit of the division to increase the efficiency of
5-12 the maintenance staff.
5-13 (c) The institutional division shall assign a maintenance
5-14 staff member to two or more units of the division if the division
5-15 determines that such an assignment is cost-effective.
5-16 (d) The institutional division may not employ an assistant
5-17 unit maintenance manager for a maintenance staff of a unit of the
5-18 division unless the division determines that the employment of an
5-19 assistant unit manager at that unit is cost-effective.
5-20 SECTION 4.02. Chapter 496, Government Code, is amended by
5-21 adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
5-22 SUBCHAPTER C. MANAGEMENT OF PROPERTY
5-23 Sec. 496.101. AUTOMATED INVENTORY AND MAINTENANCE SYSTEM.
5-24 (a) As funds are appropriated for that purpose, the department
5-25 shall establish for each unit of the institutional division an
5-26 automated inventory and maintenance system that interacts with the
5-27 centralized computer system of the department.
6-1 (b) The system must maintain inventory records for parts and
6-2 supplies control, monitor preventive maintenance and warranty
6-3 schedules for equipment, estimate time standards for maintenance
6-4 jobs, and organize a work order control process.
6-5 ARTICLE 5
6-6 SECTION 5.01. Chapter 494, Government Code, is amended by
6-7 adding Section 494.013 to read as follows:
6-8 Sec. 494.013. COMPUTER UTILIZATION STUDY. (a) The
6-9 Department of Information Resources shall conduct a study of the
6-10 underutilization of computers by the institutional division. The
6-11 department shall identify areas in which the division may increase
6-12 efficiency and productivity through the use of computers.
6-13 (b) The Department of Information Resources shall develop
6-14 strategies for the institutional division for expanding or
6-15 implementing the use of computers to support word processing and
6-16 for maintaining, processing, or analyzing information in areas such
6-17 as equipment or property management, maintenance and supplies
6-18 costs, inmate disturbances, cell allocation, inmate population,
6-19 visitors, local key control, budgeting, staff management, and
6-20 legislation affecting inmate population.
6-21 (c) The Department of Information Resources shall complete
6-22 the study and develop the strategies required by this section not
6-23 later than September 1, 1994. The Texas Board of Criminal Justice
6-24 shall request from the legislature at the earliest opportunity any
6-25 legislation or appropriations necessary for the implementation of
6-26 the strategies. This section expires January 31, 1995.
6-27 ARTICLE 6
7-1 SECTION 6.01. Section 495.007, Government Code, is amended
7-2 to read as follows:
7-3 Sec. 495.007. LIMITATION. The board may not enter into
7-4 contracts under this subchapter for more than 4,080 <4,000> beds.
7-5 ARTICLE 7
7-6 SECTION 7.01. Subsection (b), Section 501.015, Government
7-7 Code, is amended to read as follows:
7-8 (b) When an inmate <is discharged or> is released on parole,
7-9 mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon, the inmate is
7-10 entitled to receive $100 <$200> from the department and
7-11 transportation at the expense of the department to the location at
7-12 which the inmate is required to report to a parole officer
7-13 <institutional division as provided by this subsection. The
7-14 department shall give the inmate $100 on discharge. A parole
7-15 officer to whom the inmate is required to report> by the pardons
7-16 and paroles division <shall give the inmate the remaining $100 if
7-17 the inmate reports to the officer within the time specified by the
7-18 board>. The inmate shall receive $50 on his release from the
7-19 institution and $50 on initially reporting to a parole officer at
7-20 the location at which the inmate is required to report to a parole
7-21 officer. If an inmate is released and is not required by the
7-22 pardons and paroles division to report to a parole officer or is
7-23 authorized by the pardons and paroles division to report to a
7-24 location outside this state, the department <institutional
7-25 division> shall provide the inmate with $100 and, at the expense of
7-26 the department, transportation to:
7-27 (1) the location of the inmate's residence, if the
8-1 residence is in this state; or
8-2 (2) a transit point determined appropriate by the
8-3 department, if the inmate's residence is outside this state or the
8-4 inmate is required by the pardons and paroles division to report to
8-5 a location outside this state <give the inmate $200 on discharge or
8-6 release>.
8-7 ARTICLE 8
8-8 SECTION 8.01. Subchapter B, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
8-9 amended by adding Section 501.059 to read as follows:
8-10 Sec. 501.059. MANAGED HEALTH CARE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
8-11 (a) The Managed Health Care Advisory Committee to the Texas
8-12 Department of Criminal Justice is established.
8-13 (b) The committee consists of:
8-14 (1) two members employed full-time by the department,
8-15 at least one of whom is a physician, appointed by the executive
8-16 director;
8-17 (2) two members employed full-time by The University
8-18 of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, at least one of whom is a
8-19 physician, appointed by the president of the medical branch; and
8-20 (3) two members employed full-time by the Texas Tech
8-21 University Health Sciences Center, at least one of whom is a
8-22 physician, appointed by the president of the university.
8-23 (c) A committee member serves at the pleasure of the
8-24 appointing official or until termination of the member's employment
8-25 with the entity the member represents.
8-26 (d) An appointment to the committee shall be made without
8-27 regard to the race, creed, sex, religion, or national origin of the
9-1 appointee.
9-2 (e) A committee member serves without compensation but is
9-3 entitled to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses
9-4 incurred in the performance of the duties of the committee.
9-5 (f) The committee may hire a managed health care
9-6 administrator and may employ personnel necessary for the
9-7 administration of the committee's duties.
9-8 (g) The committee shall develop a managed health care plan
9-9 for all inmates at the institutional division that includes:
9-10 (1) the establishment of a managed care network of
9-11 physicians and hospitals that will serve the institutional division
9-12 as the exclusive health care provider for inmates at each facility
9-13 of the institutional division;
9-14 (2) cost containment studies; and
9-15 (3) care case management and utilization management
9-16 studies performed exclusively for the institutional division.
9-17 (h) To the extent possible the committee shall integrate the
9-18 managed care network with the public medical schools of this state
9-19 and the component hospitals of those medical schools.
9-20 (i) For those services for which the public medical schools
9-21 and their components cannot provide, the committee shall initiate a
9-22 competitive bidding process for contracts with other providers for
9-23 medical care to inmates confined in the institutional division.
9-24 (j) The committee may enter into a contract on behalf of the
9-25 department to fully implement the managed health care plan under
9-26 Subsection (g).
9-27 (k) The department shall pay necessary costs for the
10-1 operation of the committee, including costs of personnel, from
10-2 funds appropriated by the legislature to the department.
10-3 (l) The managed health care plan, inclusive of the health
10-4 care administrator and necessary personnel proposed by the
10-5 committee, must cost the state less than what is presently
10-6 provided, otherwise the status quo shall be maintained.
10-7 ARTICLE 9
10-8 SECTION 9.01. If an employee of the Texas Department of
10-9 Criminal Justice becomes an employee of another institution as a
10-10 result of this Act, the employee is entitled to retain the salary
10-11 and benefits applicable to employees of the Texas Department of
10-12 Criminal Justice.
10-13 SECTION 9.02. This Act takes effect immediately, except
10-14 that:
10-15 (1) Section 4.02 takes effect January 1, 1994; and
10-16 (2) Section 7.01 takes effect September 1, 1993.
10-17 SECTION 9.03. The importance of this legislation and the
10-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
10-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
10-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
10-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
10-22 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
10-23 terms, and it is so enacted.