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 * * * * *