By Delisi                                             H.B. No. 1758
       74R6280 PEP-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the use of telephones by defendants confined in the
    1-3  institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
    1-6  amended by adding Section 501.018 to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 501.018.  USE OF TELEPHONES BY INMATES.  (a)  The
    1-8  institutional division shall adopt policies to ensure that an
    1-9  inmate in a facility operated by the division will receive an
   1-10  incoming telephone call only if the warden of the facility housing
   1-11  the inmate determines:
   1-12              (1)  the call is made under emergency circumstances and
   1-13  does not pose a threat to the security of the facility; or
   1-14              (2)  the use of the telephone is the only reasonable
   1-15  means under the circumstances that permits communication between
   1-16  the inmate and the inmate's attorney.
   1-17        (b)  The institutional division shall establish procedures to
   1-18  be followed by an inmate who requests access to use of a telephone
   1-19  to place an outgoing call.  The procedures may include a
   1-20  requirement that the duration of any call be limited to a specified
   1-21  time period.  Except as provided by Subsection (a), the
   1-22  institutional division may deny access to the use of a telephone by
   1-23  an inmate based on the inmate's disciplinary status or because the
   1-24  inmate fails to follow procedures established under this section.
    2-1        (c)  The institutional division may not allow a telephone to
    2-2  be placed in an inmate's cell or in dayroom space unless the
    2-3  telephone was in connection at that location before September 1,
    2-4  1995.
    2-5        SECTION 2.  Subchapter B, Chapter 507, Government Code, is
    2-6  amended by adding Section 507.028 to read as follows:
    2-7        Sec. 507.028.  USE OF TELEPHONES BY DEFENDANTS.  The state
    2-8  jail division shall adopt policies and procedures governing the use
    2-9  of telephones by defendants described by Section 507.002 who are
   2-10  confined in state jail felony facilities.  The state jail division
   2-11  may adopt policies and procedures that allow a defendant confined
   2-12  in a state jail felony facility greater access to a telephone than
   2-13  the policies and procedures adopted by the institutional division
   2-14  allow an inmate confined in a facility operated by that division.
   2-15        SECTION 3.  (a) The institutional division of the Texas
   2-16  Department of Criminal Justice shall adopt the policies and
   2-17  procedures required by Section 501.018, Government Code, as added
   2-18  by this Act, not later than January 1, 1996.
   2-19        (b)  The state jail division of the Texas Department of
   2-20  Criminal Justice shall adopt the policies and procedures required
   2-21  by Section 507.028, Government Code, as added by this Act, not
   2-22  later than January 1, 1996.
   2-23        SECTION 4.   This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   2-24        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-25  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-26  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-27  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-1  days in each house be  suspended, and this rule is hereby
    3-2  suspended.