By Maxey H.B. No. 545
75R2173 SKB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to membership of mental health and mental retardation
1-3 boards.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 532.003(b), Health and Safety Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (b) The members must be representatives of the public who
1-8 have demonstrated interest in mental health, mental retardation,
1-9 developmental disabilities, or the health and human services
1-10 system. At least one member must be a consumer of services for
1-11 persons with mental illness or mental retardation. At least two
1-12 other members must be consumers of services for persons with mental
1-13 illness or mental retardation or [a] family members [member] of
1-14 consumers [a consumer] of those services.
1-15 SECTION 2. Section 534.002, Health and Safety Code, is
1-16 amended to read as follows:
1-17 Sec. 534.002. BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR CENTER ESTABLISHED BY
1-18 ONE LOCAL AGENCY. The board of trustees of a community center
1-19 established by one local agency is composed of[:]
1-20 [(1) the members of the local agency's governing body;
1-21 or]
1-22 [(2)] not fewer than five or more than nine qualified
1-23 voters who reside in the region to be served by the center and who
1-24 are appointed by the local agency's governing body. At least one
2-1 of the members must be a consumer of services for persons with
2-2 mental illness or mental retardation. At least one other member
2-3 must be a consumer of services for persons with mental illness or
2-4 mental retardation or a family member of a consumer of those
2-5 services.
2-6 SECTION 3. Sections 534.003(b) and (c), Health and Safety
2-7 Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-8 (b) The governing bodies of the local agencies shall appoint
2-9 the board members [either from among the membership of the
2-10 governing bodies or] from among the qualified voters who reside in
2-11 the region to be served by the center. At least one of the members
2-12 must be a consumer of services for persons with mental illness or
2-13 mental retardation. At least one other member must be a consumer
2-14 of services for persons with mental illness or mental retardation
2-15 or a family member of a consumer of those services.
2-16 (c) When the center is established, the governing bodies
2-17 shall enter into a contract that stipulates the number of board
2-18 members [and the group from which the members are chosen]. They
2-19 may renegotiate or amend the contract as necessary to change the[:]
2-20 [(1) method of choosing the members; or]
2-21 [(2)] membership of the board of trustees to more
2-22 accurately reflect the ethnic and geographic diversity of the local
2-23 service area.
2-24 SECTION 4. Sections 534.005(a) and (b), Health and Safety
2-25 Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-26 (a) Appointed members of the board of trustees [who are not
2-27 members of a local agency's governing body] serve staggered
3-1 two-year terms. In appointing the initial members, the appointing
3-2 authority shall designate not less than one-third or more than
3-3 one-half of the members to serve one-year terms and shall designate
3-4 the remaining members to serve two-year terms.
3-5 (b) A vacancy on a board of trustees [composed of qualified
3-6 voters] is filled by appointment for the remainder of the unexpired
3-7 term.
3-8 SECTION 5. (a) Each member of a board of trustees the
3-9 governor appoints to fill an available vacancy in a board appointed
3-10 under Section 532.003, Health and Safety Code, must be a consumer
3-11 of services for persons with mental illness or mental retardation
3-12 or a family member of a consumer of those services until at least
3-13 three board members are consumers of those services or family
3-14 members of consumers in the proportion provided by Section 532.003,
3-15 Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act.
3-16 (b) Not later than October 1, 1997, a board of trustees
3-17 composed of members of local governmental bodies that is serving
3-18 under Section 534.002 or 534.003, Health and Safety Code, shall
3-19 appoint a new board as provided by the appropriate section of that
3-20 code, as amended by this Act. To provide for staggered terms,
3-21 board members appointed under this subsection shall draw lots to
3-22 determine the length of each member's term. If the number of board
3-23 members is an even number, one-half shall serve a one-year term and
3-24 one-half shall serve a two-year term. If the number of members is
3-25 an odd number, the number of members who serve a one-year term
3-26 shall be one fewer than the number who serve a two-year term.
3-27 (c) Members of local governmental bodies who are serving as
4-1 members of a board of trustees under Section 534.002(1) or
4-2 534.003(b), Health and Safety Code, may remain in office,
4-3 notwithstanding the changes made by this Act, until newly appointed
4-4 board members have qualified for and taken office.
4-5 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
4-6 applies only to an appointment that is made on or after September
4-7 1, 1997. An appointment that is made before September 1, 1997, is
4-8 governed by the law as it existed immediately before September 1,
4-9 1997, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-10 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.