By Longoria H.B. No. 2894
74R6766 DD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the criminal history record information of a person who
1-3 is the subject of a criminal commitment proceeding and to the
1-4 transfer of that person to a nonsecurity mental health unit.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 5(a), Article 46.02, Code of Criminal
1-7 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) When a defendant has been determined incompetent to
1-9 stand trial for any felony or for a misdemeanor because of mental
1-10 retardation, and absent a determination that there is no
1-11 substantial probability that the defendant will attain competency
1-12 to stand trial in the foreseeable future, the court shall enter an
1-13 order committing the defendant to the maximum security unit of any
1-14 facility designated by the Texas Department of Mental Health and
1-15 Mental Retardation, to an agency of the United States operating a
1-16 mental hospital, or to a Veterans Administration hospital for a
1-17 period not to exceed 18 months. When a defendant has been
1-18 determined incompetent to stand trial for a misdemeanor because of
1-19 mental illness and absent a determination that there is no
1-20 substantial probability that the defendant will attain competency
1-21 to stand trial in the foreseeable future, the court shall enter an
1-22 order committing the defendant to the mental health facility
1-23 designated by the Commissioner of Mental Health and Mental
1-24 Retardation to serve the catchment area in which the committing
2-1 court is located for a period not to exceed 18 months. An order
2-2 issued under this subsection shall also place the defendant in the
2-3 custody of the sheriff for transportation to the facility to be
2-4 confined therein for further examination and treatment toward the
2-5 specific objective of attaining competency to stand trial. The
2-6 court shall order that a transcript of all medical testimony
2-7 received by the jury be forthwith prepared by the court reporter
2-8 and that such transcript, together with a statement of the facts
2-9 and circumstances surrounding the alleged offense and the patient's
2-10 criminal history record information obtained by the court under
2-11 Section 411.128, Government Code, shall accompany the patient to
2-12 the facility.
2-13 SECTION 2. Sections 4(b) and (c), Article 46.03, Code of
2-14 Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
2-15 (b) Commitment to Maximum Security Unit; Transfer to
2-16 Nonsecurity Unit. A person committed to a mental health or mental
2-17 retardation facility as a result of the proceedings initiated
2-18 pursuant to Subsection (d) of this section shall be committed to
2-19 the maximum security unit of any facility designated by the Texas
2-20 Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Within 60 days
2-21 following arrival at the maximum security unit, the person shall be
2-22 transferred to a nonsecurity unit of a mental health or mental
2-23 retardation facility designated by the Texas Department of Mental
2-24 Health and Mental Retardation unless the court, after conducting a
2-25 hearing under this subsection, prohibits the transfer or the person
2-26 is determined to be manifestly dangerous by a review board within
2-27 the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. The
3-1 Commissioner of Mental Health and Mental Retardation shall appoint
3-2 a review board of five members, including one psychiatrist licensed
3-3 to practice medicine in this state and two persons who work
3-4 directly with mental health patients or mentally retarded clients,
3-5 to determine whether the person is manifestly dangerous. If the
3-6 superintendent of the facility at which the maximum security unit
3-7 is located disagrees with the determination, then the matter will
3-8 be referred to the Commissioner of Mental Health and Mental
3-9 Retardation who will resolve the disagreement by deciding whether
3-10 the person is manifestly dangerous. Before the transfer of a
3-11 person to a nonsecurity unit under this subsection, the Texas
3-12 Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation shall notify the
3-13 court that committed the person under Subsection (d) of this
3-14 section of the proposed transfer, and the court shall provide
3-15 notice of the transfer to the prosecuting attorney and any victim
3-16 of an offense for which the person was acquitted. A party who
3-17 receives notice under this subsection and who believes that the
3-18 person should not be transferred may file a motion with the court
3-19 for a hearing. On receipt of the motion, the court shall notify
3-20 the person who is the subject of the proposed transfer and the
3-21 party who filed the motion opposing the transfer and shall schedule
3-22 a hearing on the issue. If the court determines that the person is
3-23 manifestly dangerous, the court shall order the person retained in
3-24 a security unit.
3-25 (c) Transcript of all Medical Testimony. The court shall
3-26 order that a transcript of all medical testimony received in both
3-27 the criminal proceedings and the commitment proceedings be prepared
4-1 forthwith by the court reporters and that such transcripts,
4-2 together with a statement of the facts and circumstances
4-3 surrounding the alleged offense and the patient's criminal history
4-4 record information obtained by the court under Section 411.128,
4-5 Government Code, shall accompany the patient to the mental health
4-6 or mental retardation facility.
4-7 SECTION 3. Subchapter F, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
4-8 amended by adding Section 411.128 to read as follows:
4-9 Sec. 411.128. ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION:
4-10 DISTRICT OR COUNTY COURT IN CRIMINAL COMMITMENT PROCEEDING. A
4-11 district court or a county court is entitled to obtain from the
4-12 department criminal history record information maintained by the
4-13 department that relates to a person who is the subject of a
4-14 proceeding for court-ordered mental health services under Article
4-15 46.02 or 46.03, Code of Criminal Procedure.
4-16 SECTION 4. The change in law made by Section 2 of this Act
4-17 applies only to a criminal commitment proceeding under Article
4-18 46.03, Code of Criminal Procedure, that begins on or after the
4-19 effective date of this Act. A criminal commitment proceeding that
4-20 begins before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law
4-21 in effect when the proceeding began, and the former law is
4-22 continued in effect for that purpose.
4-23 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-24 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.