76R10114 GWK-F
By Ramsay H.B. No. 2469
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2469:
By Lewis of Tarrant C.S.H.B. No. 2469
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to facilities requirements for county jails.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Sections 351.007(a) and (b), Local Government
1-5 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) A county jail cell designed for one person only must
1-7 have a clear floor area of 40 square feet or more.
1-8 (b) Any other housing area [cell, compartment, dormitory,]
1-9 or day room in a county jail[, including a safety vestibule,] must
1-10 have a clear floor area of 18 square feet or more for each prisoner
1-11 to be confined in the area or room.
1-12 SECTION 2. Section 351.011(b), Local Government Code, is
1-13 amended to read as follows:
1-14 (b) A housing area [county jail cell, compartment, or
1-15 dormitory] designed for three or more prisoners must have one
1-16 toilet and one combination sink and drinking fountain for every
1-17 eight [12] prisoners to be confined in the area [room].
1-18 SECTION 3. Section 351.012(a), Local Government Code, is
1-19 amended to read as follows:
1-20 (a) A day room designed in a county jail for three or more
1-21 prisoners must have:
1-22 (1) for every eight prisoners to be confined in the
1-23 room, one toilet and [,] one combination sink and drinking
1-24 fountain;[,] and
2-1 (2) [one shower] for every 12 prisoners to be
2-2 confined in the room, one shower.
2-3 SECTION 4. Section 351.014(d), Local Government Code, is
2-4 amended to read as follows:
2-5 (d) A person held under this section shall be kept in a
2-6 special enclosure or room for that purpose. The special enclosure
2-7 or room must have:
2-8 (1) a clear floor area of 40 square feet or more;
2-9 (2) a ceiling height above the floor of eight feet or
2-10 more; and
2-11 (3) a soft covering on the floor and walls, designed
2-12 to protect a violent person from self-injury or destruction[; and]
2-13 [(4) one hammock made of an elastic or fibrous
2-14 material that is not less than two feet, three inches wide and six
2-15 feet, three inches long].
2-16 SECTION 5. Section 351.101, Local Government Code, is
2-17 amended to read as follows:
2-18 Sec. 351.101. AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT. The commissioners
2-19 court of a county, with the approval of the sheriff of the county,
2-20 may contract with a private organization to place [low-risk county]
2-21 inmates in a detention facility operated by the organization. The
2-22 commissioners court may not contract with a private organization in
2-23 which a member of the court or an elected or appointed peace
2-24 officer who serves in the county has a financial interest or in
2-25 which an employee or commissioner of the Commission on Jail
2-26 Standards has a financial interest. A contract made in violation
2-27 of this section is void.
3-1 SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
3-2 to a county jail on which the initial construction was begun after
3-3 December 23, 1976. A county jail on which the initial construction
3-4 was begun on or before December 23, 1976, is covered by the law in
3-5 effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
3-6 former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-7 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-8 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
3-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.