By:  Moncrief, West                                     S.B. No. 66

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       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

1-24     as practicable to the location at which the proposed action is to

 2-1     be taken.  The division, department, or vendor may not hold the

 2-2     meeting on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday and must begin the

 2-3     meeting after 6 p.m.

 2-4           SECTION 2.  Subsection (c), Section 25, Article 42.18, Code

 2-5     of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

 2-6           (c)  The division may not establish a community residential

 2-7     facility, enter into a contract for a community residential

 2-8     facility, change the use of a community residential facility,

 2-9     significantly increase the capacity of a community residential

2-10     facility, or increase the capacity of a community residential

2-11     facility to more than 500 residents, regardless of whether that

2-12     increase is significant, unless the division or a vendor proposing

2-13     to operate the facility provides notice of the proposed action and

2-14     a hearing on the issues in the same manner as notice and hearing

2-15     are provided under Section 509.010, Government Code [9, Article

2-16     42.13].  The notice must clearly state that the proposed action

2-17     concerns a facility in which persons who have been released from

2-18     prison on parole or mandatory supervision are to be housed.  This

2-19     subsection applies to any residential facility that the division

2-20     establishes or contracts for under this article, under Subchapter

2-21     C, Chapter 497, Government Code, or under Subchapter A, Chapter

2-22     499, Government Code.

2-23           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

2-24     applies only to an action to be taken in relation to a community

2-25     corrections facility if the action is proposed on or after that

2-26     date.

2-27           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-1     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-2     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-3     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-4     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.