AN ACT
1-1 relating to notice to the public and to public officials concerning
1-2 activities affecting certain community corrections facilities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 509.010, Government Code, is amended by
1-5 amending Subsections (b) and (e) to read as follows:
1-6 (b) Before the 30th day before the date of the meeting, the
1-7 division, the department that the facility is to serve, or a vendor
1-8 proposing to operate the facility shall:
1-9 (1) publish by advertisement that is not less than
1-10 3-1/2 inches by 5 inches notice of the date, hour, place, and
1-11 subject of the hearing required by Subsection (a) in three
1-12 consecutive issues of a newspaper of, or in newspapers that
1-13 collectively have, general circulation in the county in which the
1-14 proposed facility is to be located; and
1-15 (2) mail a copy of the notice to each police chief,
1-16 sheriff, city council member, mayor, county commissioner, county
1-17 judge, school board member, state representative, and state senator
1-18 who serves or represents the area in which the proposed facility is
1-19 to be located, unless the proposed facility has been previously
1-20 authorized to operate at a particular location by a community
1-21 justice council under Section 76.003.
1-22 (e) The division, a department, or a private vendor shall
1-23 hold a public meeting required by Subsection (a) at a site as close
2-1 as practicable to the location at which the proposed action is to
2-2 be taken. The division, department, or vendor may not hold the
2-3 meeting on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday and must begin the
2-4 meeting after 6 p.m.
2-5 SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 25, Article 42.18, Code
2-6 of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
2-7 (c) The division may not establish a community residential
2-8 facility, enter into a contract for a community residential
2-9 facility, change the use of a community residential facility,
2-10 significantly increase the capacity of a community residential
2-11 facility, or increase the capacity of a community residential
2-12 facility to more than 500 residents, regardless of whether that
2-13 increase is significant, unless the division or a vendor proposing
2-14 to operate the facility provides notice of the proposed action and
2-15 a hearing on the issues in the same manner as notice and hearing
2-16 are provided under Section 509.010, Government Code [9, Article
2-17 42.13]. The notice must clearly state that the proposed action
2-18 concerns a facility in which persons who have been released from
2-19 prison on parole or mandatory supervision are to be housed. This
2-20 subsection applies to any residential facility that the division
2-21 establishes or contracts for under this article, under Subchapter
2-22 C, Chapter 497, Government Code, or under Subchapter A, Chapter
2-23 499, Government Code.
2-24 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
2-25 applies only to an action to be taken in relation to a community
3-1 corrections facility if the action is proposed on or after that
3-2 date.
3-3 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 66 passed the Senate on
April 24, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 66 passed the House on
May 16, 1997, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor