1-1     By:  Moncrief                                           S.B. No. 66

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed November 12, 1996; January 14, 1997,

 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;

 1-4     April 3, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,

 1-5     Nays 0; April 3, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to notice to the public and to public officials concerning

 1-9     activities affecting certain community corrections facilities.

1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 509.010, Government Code, is amended by

1-12     amending Subsections (b) and (e) to read as follows:

1-13           (b)  Before the 30th day before the date of the meeting, the

1-14     division, the department that the facility is to serve, or a vendor

1-15     proposing to operate the facility shall:

1-16                 (1)  publish by advertisement that is not less than

1-17     3-1/2 inches by 5 inches notice of the date, hour, place, and

1-18     subject of the hearing required by Subsection (a) in three

1-19     consecutive issues of a newspaper of, or in newspapers that

1-20     collectively have, general circulation in the county in which the

1-21     proposed facility is to be located; and

1-22                 (2)  mail a copy of the notice to each police chief,

1-23     sheriff, city council member, mayor, county commissioner, county

1-24     judge, school board member, state representative, and state senator

1-25     who serves or represents the area in which the proposed facility is

1-26     to be located, unless the proposed facility has been previously

1-27     authorized to operate at a particular location by a community

1-28     justice council under Section 76.003.

1-29           (e)  The division, a department, or a private vendor shall

1-30     hold a public meeting required by Subsection (a) at a site as close

1-31     as practicable to the location at which the proposed action is to

1-32     be taken.  The division, department, or vendor may not hold the

1-33     meeting on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday and must begin the

1-34     meeting after 6 p.m.

1-35           SECTION 2.  Subsection (c), Section 25, Article 42.18, Code

1-36     of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

1-37           (c)  The division may not establish a community residential

1-38     facility, enter into a contract for a community residential

1-39     facility, change the use of a community residential facility,

1-40     significantly increase the capacity of a community residential

1-41     facility, or increase the capacity of a community residential

1-42     facility to more than 500 residents, regardless of whether that

1-43     increase is significant, unless the division or a vendor proposing

1-44     to operate the facility provides notice of the proposed action and

1-45     a hearing on the issues in the same manner as notice and hearing

1-46     are provided under Section 509.010, Government Code [9, Article

1-47     42.13].  The notice must clearly state that the proposed action

1-48     concerns a facility in which persons who have been released from

1-49     prison on parole or mandatory supervision are to be housed.  This

1-50     subsection applies to any residential facility that the division

1-51     establishes or contracts for under this article, under Subchapter

1-52     C, Chapter 497, Government Code, or under Subchapter A, Chapter

1-53     499, Government Code.

1-54           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

1-55     applies only to an action to be taken in relation to a community

1-56     corrections facility if the action is proposed on or after that

1-57     date.

1-58           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-59     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-60     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-61     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-62     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

1-63                                  * * * * *