By: Whitmire S.B. No. 1009
97S0542/3
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to correctional facilities that house inmates convicted of
1-2 offenses against the laws of another state of the United States.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 511.001, Government Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 511.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-7 (1) "Commission" means the Commission on Jail
1-8 Standards.
1-9 (2) "Correctional facility" means a facility operated
1-10 by a county, a municipality, or a private vendor for the
1-11 confinement of a person arrested for, charged with, or convicted of
1-12 a criminal offense.
1-13 (3) "County jail" means a facility operated by or for
1-14 a county for the confinement of persons accused or convicted of an
1-15 offense.
1-16 (4) [(3)] "Executive director" means the executive
1-17 director of the commission.
1-18 (5) "Federal prisoner" means a person arrested for,
1-19 charged with, or convicted of a violation of a federal law.
1-20 (6) "Inmate" means a person arrested for, charged
1-21 with, or convicted of a criminal offense of this state or another
1-22 state of the United States and confined in a county jail, a
1-23 municipal jail, or a correctional facility operated by a county, a
2-1 municipality, or a private vendor.
2-2 (7) [(4)] "Prisoner" means a person confined in a
2-3 county jail.
2-4 SECTION 2. Chapter 511, Government Code, is amended by
2-5 adding Sections 511.0092, 511.0093, and 511.0094 to read as
2-6 follows:
2-7 Sec. 511.0092. CONTRACTS FOR OUT-OF-STATE INMATES. (a) The
2-8 only entities other than the state that are authorized to operate a
2-9 correctional facility to house in this state inmates convicted of
2-10 offenses committed against the laws of another state of the United
2-11 States are:
2-12 (1) a county or municipality; and
2-13 (2) a private vendor operating a correctional facility
2-14 under a contract with a county under Subchapter F, Chapter 351,
2-15 Local Government Code, or municipality under Subchapter E, Chapter
2-16 361, Local Government Code.
2-17 (b) A county or municipality may enter into a contract with
2-18 another state or a jurisdiction in another state for the purpose
2-19 described by Subsection (a) only if:
2-20 (1) the county or municipality submits to the
2-21 commission:
2-22 (A) a statement of the custody level capacity
2-23 and availability in the correctional facility that will house the
2-24 inmates; and
2-25 (B) a written plan explaining the procedure to
3-1 be used to coordinate law enforcement activities in response to any
3-2 riot, rebellion, escape, or other emergency situation occurring in
3-3 the facility; and
3-4 (2) the commission:
3-5 (A) inspects the facility and reviews the
3-6 statement and plan submitted under Subdivision (1); and
3-7 (B) after the inspection and review, determines
3-8 that the correctional facility is a proper facility for housing the
3-9 inmates and provides the county or municipality with a copy of that
3-10 determination.
3-11 (c) A private vendor operating a correctional facility in
3-12 this state may not enter into a contract for the purposes of
3-13 Subsection (a) with another state or a jurisdiction in another
3-14 state.
3-15 (d) A contract described by Subsection (b) must provide
3-16 that:
3-17 (1) each correctional facility in which inmates are to
3-18 be housed meets minimum standards established by the commission;
3-19 (2) each inmate to be released from custody must be
3-20 released in the sending state;
3-21 (3) before transferring an inmate, the receiving
3-22 facility shall review for compliance with the commission's
3-23 classification standards:
3-24 (A) all records concerning the sending state's
3-25 classification of the inmate, including records relating to the
4-1 inmate's conduct while confined in the sending state; and
4-2 (B) appropriate medical information concerning
4-3 the inmate, including certification of tuberculosis screening or
4-4 treatment;
4-5 (4) except as provided by Subsection (e), the sending
4-6 state will not transfer and the receiving facility will not accept
4-7 an inmate who has a record of institutional violence involving the
4-8 use of a deadly weapon or a pattern of violence while confined in
4-9 the sending state or a record of escape or attempted escape from
4-10 secure custody;
4-11 (5) the receiving entity will determine the inmate's
4-12 custody level in accordance with commission rules, in order to
4-13 ensure that the custody level assignments for the facility as a
4-14 whole are compatible with the construction security level
4-15 availability in the facility; and
4-16 (6) the receiving facility is entitled to terminate at
4-17 will the contract by providing the sending state with 90 days'
4-18 notice of the intent to terminate the contract.
4-19 (e) The commission may waive the requirement that a contract
4-20 contain the provision described by Subsection (d)(4) if the
4-21 commission determines that the receiving facility is capable of
4-22 confining an inmate described by Subsection (d)(4).
4-23 (f) A county, municipality, or private vendor operating
4-24 under a contract described by Subsection (b) shall:
4-25 (1) send a copy of the contract to the commission;
5-1 (2) require all employees at the facility to maintain
5-2 certification as required by the Commission on Law Enforcement
5-3 Officer Standards and Education;
5-4 (3) submit to inspections by the commission; and
5-5 (4) immediately notify the commission of any riot,
5-6 rebellion, escape, or other emergency situation occurring at the
5-7 facility.
5-8 (g) The commission may require the sending state or an
5-9 entity described in Section 511.0092(a) to reimburse the state for
5-10 any cost incurred by a state agency in responding to any riot,
5-11 rebellion, escape, or other emergency situation occurring at the
5-12 facility.
5-13 Sec. 511.0093. DUTIES RELATED TO OUT-OF-STATE INMATES.
5-14 (a) The commission may adopt rules regulating the number of
5-15 federal prisoners and prisoners from jurisdictions other than Texas
5-16 that are housed in a county jail, a municipal jail, or a
5-17 correctional facility operated by a private vendor under contract
5-18 with a municipality if such jail or correctional facility houses
5-19 state, county, or municipal prisoners or prisoners of another state
5-20 of the United States.
5-21 (b) The commission may adopt other rules regulating jails or
5-22 correctional facilities described by Subsection (a) as necessary to
5-23 protect the health and safety of those prisoners, local and Texas
5-24 prisoners, jail personnel, and the public.
5-25 Sec. 511.0094. EXCLUSION OF JAILS OR CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES
6-1 HOUSING ONLY FEDERAL PRISONERS. The provisions of this chapter do
6-2 not apply to a correctional facility, other than a county jail,
6-3 contracting to house only federal prisoners and operating pursuant
6-4 to a contract between a unit of federal government and a county, a
6-5 municipality, or a private vendor. If a county, municipality, or
6-6 private vendor contracts to house or begins to house state, county,
6-7 or municipal prisoners or prisoners of another state of the United
6-8 States, it shall report to the commission before placing such
6-9 inmates in a correctional facility housing only federal prisoners.
6-10 SECTION 3. Subsection (e), Section 351.043, Local Government
6-11 Code, is repealed.
6-12 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
6-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-17 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-18 passage, and it is so enacted.