By Allen H.B. No. 2493
74R7801 GWK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to oversight of the work program plan operated by the
1-3 Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 497.052, Government Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 497.052. Work Program Privileges. The department
1-8 <pardons and paroles division> may grant work program privileges
1-9 under the work program plan established under this subchapter to
1-10 any inmate in the department, subject to rules adopted and
1-11 conditions imposed under this subchapter. The plan must include
1-12 programs and procedures that allow an eligible person to contribute
1-13 to court-ordered restitution, payment of court costs, support for
1-14 the person's family and dependents, savings for the person's
1-15 release, and expenses of the person's room, board, and maintenance.
1-16 SECTION 2. Section 497.053, Government Code, is amended to
1-17 read as follows:
1-18 Sec. 497.053. Establishment of Work Program Plan. The
1-19 department <pardons and paroles division> shall establish a work
1-20 program plan. Under the plan, the department <pardons and paroles
1-21 division> may transfer an eligible person from a unit of
1-22 confinement in the institutional division or a county jail to a
1-23 work facility in which the person remains in the technical custody
1-24 of the department <pardons and paroles division>.
2-1 SECTION 3. Section 497.054, Government Code, is amended to
2-2 read as follows:
2-3 Sec. 497.054. Housing for participants. (a) The department
2-4 <pardons and paroles division>, as necessary, shall designate
2-5 facilities in an area in which residents are to be participants in
2-6 the work program plan for the housing of those residents. The
2-7 department <pardons and paroles division> may not grant a resident
2-8 work privileges unless:
2-9 (1) suitable housing for the resident exists in the
2-10 area in which the resident is employed or has an offer of
2-11 employment; or
2-12 (2) the resident is to be placed in a work facility
2-13 that combines employment facilities and living quarters for the
2-14 resident.
2-15 (b) The department <pardons and paroles division> may assign
2-16 <assume custody of> an eligible person <who has previously been
2-17 denied parole or> whose initial parole eligibility date is more
2-18 than six months but less than two years from the projected date of
2-19 transfer to a work facility and transfer the person to a work
2-20 facility. The pardons and paroles division may assume custody of a
2-21 person whom the <pardons and paroles> division may transfer under
2-22 Section 499.0039(a) and transfer the person to a work facility.
2-23 SECTION 4. Section 497.055, Government Code, is amended to
2-24 read as follows:
2-25 Sec. 497.055. Work Program Facilities. (a) In order to
2-26 accept residents transferred by the department <pardons and paroles
2-27 division> under this subchapter, a facility must:
3-1 (1) be a secure community residential facility
3-2 constructed by or under the authorization of a municipality or
3-3 county;
3-4 (2) be subject to timely certification by the American
3-5 Correctional Association as an adult institutional <a community
3-6 residential> facility;
3-7 (3) include on-site industry programs; and
3-8 (4) allow for full-time participation in training and
3-9 employment programs by each resident.
3-10 (b) A work facility must be owned by a municipality or
3-11 county and be operated under a contract between the department
3-12 <pardons and paroles division> and the municipality or county in
3-13 which the facility is located. The contract must provide for the
3-14 detention, employment, education, and rehabilitation of residents
3-15 in accordance with the rules adopted by the board. The contract
3-16 must contain:
3-17 (1) an acknowledgment that payment by the state is
3-18 subject to the availability of appropriations;
3-19 (2) a provision for payment of a maximum amount per
3-20 biennium;
3-21 (3) a covenant that the work facility and all its
3-22 associated programs and services, including costs of construction,
3-23 acquisition, or adaptation of the facility, be provided at a
3-24 savings of not less than 10 percent of the resident-per-day
3-25 operational cost to the state for the institutional division's
3-26 general population category, as calculated by the Criminal Justice
3-27 Policy Council in its most current Texas correctional costs
4-1 analysis, excluding cost of facility construction, acquisition, or
4-2 adaptation;
4-3 (4) a provision permitting the state to terminate the
4-4 contract for cause, including as cause the failure to meet the
4-5 conditions required by this subchapter and other conditions in the
4-6 contract;
4-7 (5) a provision providing for cost adjustments only
4-8 once in each biennium, to take effect at the beginning of the next
4-9 biennium;
4-10 (6) a contract term of not more than three years, with
4-11 an option to renew for additional periods of two years;
4-12 (7) a provision for an adequate plan of insurance to
4-13 protect the state against all claims, including civil rights
4-14 violations, arising from the services performed under the contract
4-15 by the contracting party, to protect the state from actions by a
4-16 third party against the contracting party or subcontractor of the
4-17 contracting party, and to protect the state from actions by
4-18 officers, guards, employees, or agents of the contracting party or
4-19 its subcontractor;
4-20 (8) a provision adopting, to the extent allowable
4-21 under applicable law, a plan for the purchase and assumption of
4-22 operations by the state in the event of the inability of the
4-23 contracting party to perform its duties under the contract; and
4-24 (9) a provision establishing comprehensive standards
4-25 for conditions of confinement.
4-26 (c) A work facility may not hold more than an average daily
4-27 population of 1,000 <500> residents.
5-1 (d) A municipality or county that has a contract with the
5-2 department <pardons and paroles division> to own and operate a work
5-3 facility may subcontract with one or more private vendors to
5-4 construct, operate, or manage the facility and provide for the
5-5 detention, employment, education, and rehabilitation services under
5-6 the contract with the department <pardons and paroles division>. A
5-7 subcontractor must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the
5-8 municipality or county that it possesses the necessary management
5-9 personnel and expertise to carry out the obligations of a
5-10 subcontract with the municipality or county in accordance with
5-11 applicable standards of the American Correctional Association.
5-12 (e) A work facility is subject to regular, on-site
5-13 monitoring by the department <pardons and paroles division>.
5-14 (f) Before the execution of a contract with the department
5-15 <pardons and paroles division>, the governing body of the
5-16 municipality or county must receive the written approval of the
5-17 chief of police of the municipality or the sheriff of the county as
5-18 to the provision of work facilities in that law enforcement
5-19 jurisdiction.
5-20 (g) A subcontract entered into by a municipality or county
5-21 with a private vendor for the provision of all or any part of a
5-22 work facility, including its acquisition, adaptation, or
5-23 construction and its detention, employment, education, and
5-24 rehabilitation programs, must contain an express statement that the
5-25 subcontractor is subject to the same standards and requirements
5-26 imposed by the contract on the municipality or county.
5-27 (h) A municipality or county that owns a work facility or a
6-1 subcontractor of the municipality or county may not:
6-2 (1) calculate release and parole eligibility dates;
6-3 (2) award good conduct time;
6-4 (3) approve a resident for work, medical, or temporary
6-5 release from the facility or for pre-parole transfer; or
6-6 (4) classify a resident for or place a resident in
6-7 less restrictive custody than that ordered by the department
6-8 <pardons and paroles division>.
6-9 (i) A municipality or county may acquire, adapt, or
6-10 construct a work facility operated within the requirements and
6-11 constraints established by this subchapter with the proceeds of
6-12 certificates of obligation of the municipality or county issued in
6-13 the manner prescribed by Subchapter C, Chapter 271, Local
6-14 Government Code.
6-15 (j) A municipality or county may pledge all or part of the
6-16 revenues received by the municipality or county from the department
6-17 <pardons and paroles division> under a contract authorized by this
6-18 section to secure or pay certificates of obligation. The
6-19 certificates of obligation must be made payable solely from and
6-20 secured solely by those revenues.
6-21 SECTION 5. Section 497.056, Government Code, is amended to
6-22 read as follows:
6-23 Sec. 497.056. Work Program Plan. (a) A resident
6-24 transferred under the conditional work program under this section
6-25 remains in the legal custody of the department <pardons and paroles
6-26 division> and is subject to the orders of the department <division>
6-27 and the rules of the work facility.
7-1 (b) The board shall adopt rules for the administration of
7-2 the conditional work program. The rules must include a work
7-3 program contract that includes an agreement by the resident to:
7-4 (1) contribute to the owner, operator, or manager of
7-5 the work facility, from the funds received by the resident for the
7-6 resident's participation in on-site industries' training and
7-7 employment, not more than 80 percent of the funds, to be used or
7-8 distributed by the owner, operator, or manager of the work facility
7-9 to pay all or a part of:
7-10 (A) costs of supervision;
7-11 (B) costs of being quartered in the facility;
7-12 (C) restitution to the victim or victims of the
7-13 resident;
7-14 (D) savings to be retained for the resident in a
7-15 designated account for the resident's benefit and receipt on
7-16 release; and
7-17 (E) support of the resident's dependents, if
7-18 any;
7-19 (2) serve at least six months in the work facility
7-20 before requesting parole review under Section 8(b), Article 42.18,
7-21 Code of Criminal Procedure, and to serve at least six months
7-22 regardless of whether the resident becomes eligible for mandatory
7-23 supervision under Section 8(c), Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
7-24 Procedure, during that period; and
7-25 (3) participate in the employment, education, and
7-26 rehabilitation programs available at the work facility to the
7-27 extent that participation is recommended by the professional staff
8-1 of the facility.
8-2 (c) The board shall adopt rules for the conduct of residents
8-3 transferred under this subchapter.
8-4 (d) In determining which residents may be promoted within
8-5 the program, the department <pardons and paroles division> shall
8-6 consider:
8-7 (1) the level of job performance achieved by the
8-8 resident;
8-9 (2) the willingness of the resident to take
8-10 instruction or training related to the resident's assigned task;
8-11 (3) the resident's work attendance record; and
8-12 (4) the resident's disciplinary record.
8-13 SECTION 6. Section 497.057, Government Code, is amended to
8-14 read as follows:
8-15 Sec. 497.057. On-Site Employment. On-site employment for
8-16 residents under this subchapter is subject to the following
8-17 conditions:
8-18 (1) the employment must be at a wage at least as high
8-19 as the prevailing wage for similar work in the area or community
8-20 where the work is performed, and be in accordance with the
8-21 prevailing working conditions in the area or community;
8-22 (2) the employment may not result in the displacement
8-23 of an employed worker in the locality of the work facility;
8-24 (3) a resident eligible for work program privileges
8-25 may not be employed as a strikebreaker or to impair an existing
8-26 contract; and
8-27 (4) an eligible resident may not be exploited in any
9-1 manner, whether the exploitation affects the community, the
9-2 resident, or the department <institutional division>.
9-3 SECTION 7. Section 497.059, Government Code, is amended to
9-4 read as follows:
9-5 Sec. 497.059. Disciplinary Proceedings. (a) On transfer, a
9-6 work program resident is subject to supervision by the department
9-7 <pardons and paroles division>.
9-8 (b) An officer assigned by the department <pardons and
9-9 paroles division> to supervise a resident transferred under this
9-10 subchapter must make periodic written reports <to the pardons and
9-11 paroles division> concerning the resident's adjustment. The
9-12 officer shall immediately report to the department <pardons and
9-13 paroles division> in writing if the officer believes that the
9-14 resident violated the terms of the work program contract or the
9-15 rules of the work facility. The officer may include in the report
9-16 the officer's recommendation as to the disciplinary action the
9-17 department <pardons and paroles division> should take in the case.
9-18 The officer may also recommend to the department <pardons and
9-19 paroles division> that a parole panel rescind or revise the
9-20 resident's presumptive parole date. The department <pardons and
9-21 paroles division> may require an agent of the department <pardons
9-22 and paroles division> or the work facility to conduct a
9-23 disciplinary hearing.
9-24 (c) If the department <pardons and paroles division> has an
9-25 administrative need to deliver a resident to the actual custody of
9-26 the institutional division or if after a disciplinary hearing the
9-27 department <pardons and paroles division> concurs that a violation
10-1 has occurred, the department <pardons and paroles division with the
10-2 approval of the institutional division> may deliver the resident to
10-3 the actual custody of the institutional division, and the
10-4 institutional division may assign the resident to a regular unit of
10-5 the institutional division. If the officer reporting a violation
10-6 recommends a disciplinary action, the department <pardons and
10-7 paroles division> shall follow the recommendation unless it
10-8 determines that another disciplinary action is more appropriate.
10-9 If the officer recommends rescission or revision of the resident's
10-10 presumptive parole date, a parole panel shall rescind or revise the
10-11 date unless it determines the action is inappropriate.
10-12 (d) During the period after a resident is transferred to a
10-13 work program under this subchapter and before the resident is
10-14 released on parole, the institutional <pardons and paroles>
10-15 division may award good conduct time to the resident earned by the
10-16 resident during the period, in the same amounts and in the same
10-17 manner as the director of the institutional division awards good
10-18 conduct time to inmates in the institutional division under Chapter
10-19 498.
10-20 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
10-21 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
10-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
10-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
10-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
10-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.