1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the oversight of the private sector prison industries
1-3 program.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 497, Government Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER C. PRIVATE SECTOR PRISON INDUSTRIES OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY
1-8 [WORK PROGRAM PLAN]
1-9 Sec. 497.051. PURPOSE; DEFINITION [WORK PROGRAM PLAN].
1-10 (a) The Private Sector Prison Industries Oversight Authority is
1-11 created to approve, certify, and oversee the operation of private
1-12 sector prison industries programs in the department, the Texas
1-13 Youth Commission, and in county correctional facilities in
1-14 compliance [shall establish policies for the administration of a
1-15 conditional work program that may employ not more than 500 male and
1-16 female work program residents. The policies must include a work
1-17 program contract that includes an agreement by the resident to
1-18 contribute from the wages received by the resident for the
1-19 resident's participation in private industry employment a
1-20 percentage of the wages, in accordance with rules adopted by the
1-21 board to comply] with the federal prison enhancement certification
1-22 program established under 18 U.S.C. Section 1761[, and a
1-23 percentage of the wages for:]
1-24 [(1) costs of supervision;]
2-1 [(2) restitution to the victim or victims of the
2-2 resident; and]
2-3 [(3) savings to be retained for the resident in a
2-4 designated account for the resident's benefit and receipt on
2-5 release]. The executive director shall provide the authority with
2-6 clerical and technical support as necessary for the authority to
2-7 perform duties imposed on the authority by this subchapter and
2-8 shall ensure that the department implements the policies adopted by
2-9 the authority that relate to the operation of private sector prison
2-10 industries programs.
2-11 (b) In this [This] subchapter, "authority" means the Private
2-12 Sector Prison Industries Oversight Authority [does not restore in
2-13 whole or in part the civil rights of a work program resident.]
2-14 [(c) A work program resident employed under this subchapter
2-15 is not subject to workers' compensation laws, and the resident and
2-16 the resident's beneficiaries may not receive compensation under
2-17 those laws, except that a private industry may provide workers'
2-18 compensation benefits to a resident and a resident's beneficiaries
2-19 as necessary to certify a work program operated by the industry as
2-20 a work pilot project described in 18 U.S.C. Section 1761].
2-21 Sec. 497.052. MEMBERSHIP. (a) The authority is composed of
2-22 nine members appointed by the governor:
2-23 (1) one of whom is representative of organized labor;
2-24 (2) one of whom is representative of employers;
2-25 (3) one of whom is representative of groups advocating
2-26 the rights of victims of criminal offenses;
2-27 (4) one of whom is representative of groups advocating
3-1 the rights of inmates;
3-2 (5) one of whom is experienced in the field of
3-3 vocational rehabilitation;
3-4 (6) one of whom is an employer in the private sector
3-5 prison industries program that is certified as in compliance with
3-6 the federal prison enhancement certification program established
3-7 under 18 U.S.C. Section 1761; and
3-8 (7) three of whom are public members.
3-9 (b) The following individuals shall serve as ex officio
3-10 members of the authority:
3-11 (1) a member of the house of representatives
3-12 designated by the speaker of the house;
3-13 (2) a member of the senate designated by the
3-14 lieutenant governor;
3-15 (3) the executive director of the Texas Department of
3-16 Criminal Justice or the designee of the executive director;
3-17 (4) the executive director of the Texas Workforce
3-18 Commission or the designee of the executive director; and
3-19 (5) the executive director of the Texas Youth
3-20 Commission or the designee of the executive director.
3-21 Sec. 497.053. TERMS. Appointed members of the authority
3-22 serve staggered six-year terms, with three members' terms expiring
3-23 on February 1 of each odd-numbered year.
3-24 Sec. 497.054. PRESIDING OFFICER. The governor shall
3-25 designate the presiding officer from among the members of the
3-26 authority, and the presiding officer shall serve in that capacity
3-27 at the pleasure of the governor.
4-1 Sec. 497.055. REIMBURSEMENT. A member of the authority is
4-2 not entitled to compensation but is entitled to reimbursement of
4-3 the travel expenses incurred by the member while conducting the
4-4 business of the authority as provided in the General Appropriations
4-5 Act.
4-6 Sec. 497.056. PRIVATE SECTOR PRISON INDUSTRIES OVERSIGHT
4-7 ACCOUNT. (a) A private sector prison industries program shall
4-8 make an annual payment to the authority in an amount equal to the
4-9 amount of money the program would pay during that year for
4-10 unemployment insurance if the employees of the program were engaged
4-11 in non-prison employment.
4-12 (b) The authority shall forward fees collected under this
4-13 section to the comptroller. The comptroller shall deposit the fees
4-14 to the credit of an account in the general revenue fund to be known
4-15 as the private sector prison industries oversight account. The
4-16 legislature may appropriate funds from the account only for the
4-17 purpose of paying the costs of the authority and the department in
4-18 implementing this subchapter. At the end of each fiscal year, the
4-19 comptroller shall transfer the excess funds in the account to the
4-20 state treasury to the credit of the crime victims compensation
4-21 fund.
4-22 (c) The authority by rule shall adopt a method for
4-23 determining the amount of the fee owed by an industry under this
4-24 section and a schedule for the payment of fees under this section.
4-25 Sec. 497.057. RULES. The authority shall adopt rules as
4-26 necessary to ensure that the private sector prison industries
4-27 program authorized by this subchapter is in compliance with the
5-1 federal prison enhancement certification program established under
5-2 18 U.S.C. 1761.
5-3 Sec. 497.058. PREVAILING WAGE. (a) The authority by rule
5-4 shall require that inmate employees at each private sector prison
5-5 industries program are paid not less than the prevailing wage as
5-6 computed by the authority, except that the authority may permit
5-7 employers to pay an employee the minimum wage for the two-month
5-8 period beginning on the date employment begins.
5-9 (b) For the purposes of computations required by this
5-10 section:
5-11 (1) the prevailing wage is the wage paid for work of
5-12 a similar nature in the location in which the work is performed;
5-13 (2) work of a similar nature is determined by openings
5-14 and wages by occupation data collected by the economic research and
5-15 analysis department of the Texas Workforce Commission; and
5-16 (3) the location in which work is performed is the
5-17 council of government region in which the work is performed.
5-18 Sec. 497.0581. INMATE CONTRIBUTIONS. The authority by rule
5-19 shall require an inmate to contribute a percentage of the wages
5-20 received by the inmate under this subchapter to be deposited in the
5-21 private sector prison industries oversight account. In
5-22 establishing the percentage of the wages required to be contributed
5-23 by inmates under this section, the authority shall ensure that the
5-24 percentage does not place the private sector prison industries
5-25 programs in the department in noncompliance with the federal prison
5-26 enhancement certification program established under 18 U.S.C.
5-27 Section 1761.
6-1 Sec. 497.059. LIMITING IMPACT ON NON-PRISON INDUSTRY. The
6-2 authority may not grant initial certification to a private sector
6-3 prison industries program if the authority determines that the
6-4 operation of the program would result in the loss of existing jobs
6-5 provided by the employer in this state.
6-6 Sec. 497.060. WORKERS' COMPENSATION. The authority by rule
6-7 shall require private sector prison industries program employers to
6-8 meet or exceed all federal requirements for providing compensation
6-9 to inmates injured while working.
6-10 Sec. 497.061. RECIDIVISM STUDIES. The authority, with the
6-11 cooperation of the Criminal Justice Policy Council, shall gather
6-12 data to determine whether participation in a private sector prison
6-13 industries program is a factor that reduces recidivism among
6-14 inmates.
6-15 Sec. 497.062. LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS. The
6-16 authority may certify any number of private sector prison
6-17 industries programs that meet or exceed the requirements of federal
6-18 law and the rules of the authority, but in no event may the
6-19 authority permit more than 1,500 inmates to participate in the
6-20 program at any one time.
6-21 SECTION 2. (a) The initial appointments of the members of
6-22 the Private Sector Prison Industries Oversight Authority, as
6-23 required by Section 497.052, Government Code, as added by this Act,
6-24 are as provided by this section. On or before January 1, 1998,
6-25 the governor shall appoint the initial authority members. Of the
6-26 initial public members, the governor shall appoint one to serve a
6-27 term expiring February 1, 1999, one to serve a term expiring
7-1 February 1, 2001, and one to serve a term expiring February 1,
7-2 2003, and of the nonpublic members, the governor shall appoint two
7-3 to serve terms expiring February 1, 1999, two to serve terms
7-4 expiring February 1, 2001, and two to serve terms expiring February
7-5 1, 2003. On expiration of those terms, the term of a member of the
7-6 authority is six years, as provided by Section 497.053, Government
7-7 Code.
7-8 (b) The Private Sector Prison Industries Oversight Authority
7-9 by March 1, 1998, shall adopt the rules that the authority is
7-10 required to adopt under Subchapter C, Chapter 497, Government Code,
7-11 as amended by this Act.
7-12 SECTION 3. On January 1, 1998, the powers, duties, and
7-13 obligations of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to oversee
7-14 the private sector prison industries program authorized by
7-15 Subchapter C, Chapter 497, Government Code, are transferred to the
7-16 Private Sector Prison Industries Oversight Authority, as are any
7-17 funds appropriated to the department for oversight of the program.
7-18 On transfer of oversight authority and appropriated funds, the
7-19 remaining duties of the department in regard to the program are as
7-20 described by Subchapter C, Chapter 497, as amended by this Act.
7-21 SECTION 4. Notwithstanding Section 497.051(a), Government
7-22 Code, as amended by this Act, the Private Sector Prison Industries
7-23 Oversight Authority is not authorized to approve, certify, or
7-24 oversee the operations of a private sector prison industries
7-25 program operated on the effective date of this Act under a
7-26 provisional certificate issued before January 1, 1993, under 18
7-27 U.S.C. Section 1761.
8-1 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
8-2 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
8-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1301 was passed by the House on April
9, 1997, by a non-record vote; that the House refused to concur in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 1301 on May 28, 1997, and requested
the appointment of a conference committee to consider the
differences between the two houses; and that the House adopted the
conference committee report on H.B. No. 1301 on May 31, 1997, by a
non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1301 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 1997, by a viva-voce vote; at the request of
the House, the Senate appointed a conference committee to consider
the differences between the two houses; and that the Senate adopted
the conference committee report on H.B. No. 1301 on May 31, 1997,
by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor