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.