By Williams                                           H.B. No. 3409
         Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
         Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to jail capacity standards.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Chapter 2, Art.2.18 Code of Criminal Procedure,
 1-5     is amended to read as follows:
 1-6           Art.2.18  CUSTODY OF PRISONERS.  (a)  When a prisoner is
 1-7     committed to jail by warrant from a magistrate or court, he shall
 1-8     be placed in jail by the sheriff.  It is a violation of duty on the
 1-9     part of any sheriff to permit a defendant so committed to remain
1-10     out of jail, except that he may, when a defendant is committed for
1-11     want of bail, or when he arrests in a bailable case, give the
1-12     person arrested a reasonable time to procure bail; but he shall so
1-13     guard the accused as to prevent escape.
1-14           (b)  If a county jail reaches 85 percent capacity, a county
1-15     sheriff may employ alternative detention methods as approved by the
1-16     Commissioners Court.
1-17           (c)  In determining the alternative methods under subsection
1-18     (b), a commissioners court shall consider the following factors:
1-19     cost effectiveness and the health and safety of the inmates and the
1-20     community.
1-21           (d)  The Commission on Jail Standards may not assess a fine
 2-1     against a county or a county sheriff if methods employed under
 2-2     subsection (b) meet the criteria established by subsection (c).
 2-3           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-4           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-5     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-6     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-7     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 2-8     days in each house be suspended, and this rule hereby suspended.