By Ramsay H.B. No. 2469
76R8378 GWK-D
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 one toilet, one combination sink and drinking
1-22 fountain, and one shower for every eight [12] prisoners to be
1-23 confined in the room.
1-24 SECTION 4. Section 351.014(d), Local Government Code, is
2-1 amended to read as follows:
2-2 (d) A person held under this section shall be kept in a
2-3 special enclosure or room for that purpose. The special enclosure
2-4 or room must have:
2-5 (1) a clear floor area of 40 square feet or more;
2-6 (2) a ceiling height above the floor of eight feet or
2-7 more; and
2-8 (3) a soft covering on the floor and walls, designed
2-9 to protect a violent person from self-injury or destruction[; and]
2-10 [(4) one hammock made of an elastic or fibrous
2-11 material that is not less than two feet, three inches wide and six
2-12 feet, three inches long].
2-13 SECTION 5. Section 351.101, Local Government Code, is
2-14 amended to read as follows:
2-15 Sec. 351.101. AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT. The commissioners
2-16 court of a county, with the approval of the sheriff of the county,
2-17 may contract with a private organization to place [low-risk county]
2-18 inmates in a detention facility operated by the organization. The
2-19 commissioners court may not contract with a private organization in
2-20 which a member of the court or an elected or appointed peace
2-21 officer who serves in the county has a financial interest or in
2-22 which an employee or commissioner of the Commission on Jail
2-23 Standards has a financial interest. A contract made in violation
2-24 of this section is void.
2-25 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-26 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
2-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.