1-1     By:  Lucio                                            S.B. No. 1730
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
 1-4     Relations; April 6, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0;
 1-6     April 6, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1730                   By:  Nixon
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to contracts between commissioners courts and private
1-11     vendors for certain corrections facilities.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Section 351.103, Local Government Code, is
1-14     amended to read as follows:
1-15           Sec. 351.103.  CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.  A contract made under
1-16     Section 351.102 must:
1-17                 (1)  if the contract includes operation or management
1-18     of the facility by the private vendor, require the private vendor
1-19     to operate the facility in compliance with minimum standards
1-20     adopted by the Commission on Jail Standards and receive and retain
1-21     a certification of compliance from the commission;
1-22                 (2)  if the contract includes operation or management
1-23     of the facility by the private vendor, provide for regular, on-site
1-24     monitoring by the sheriff;
1-25                 (3)  if the contract includes construction, require a
1-26     performance bond approved by the commissioners court that is
1-27     adequate and appropriate for the proposed construction contract;
1-28                 (4)  provide for assumption of liability by the private
1-29     vendor for all claims arising from the services performed under the
1-30     contract by the private vendor;
1-31                 (5)  if the contract includes operation or management
1-32     of the facility by the private vendor, provide for an adequate plan
1-33     of insurance for the private vendor and its officers, guards,
1-34     employees, and agents against all claims, including claims based on
1-35     violations of civil rights, arising from the services performed
1-36     under the contract by the private vendor;
1-37                 (6)  if the contract includes operation or management
1-38     of the facility by the private vendor, provide for a plan for the
1-39     purchase and assumption of operations by the county in the event of
1-40     the bankruptcy of the private vendor;
1-41                 (7)  if the contract includes operation or management
1-42     of the facility by the private vendor and if the contract involves
1-43     conversion of an existing county facility to private vendor
1-44     operation, require the private vendor to give preferential
1-45     consideration in hiring to employees at the existing facility who
1-46     meet or exceed the company's qualifications and standards for
1-47     employment in available positions;
1-48                 (8)  if the contract includes operation or management
1-49     of the facility by the private vendor, require the private vendor
1-50     to provide health care benefits comparable to that of the county;
1-51                 (9)  provide for an adequate plan of insurance to
1-52     protect the county against all claims arising from the services
1-53     performed under the contract by the private vendor and to protect
1-54     the county from actions by a third party against the private
1-55     vendor, its officers, guards, employees, and agents as a result of
1-56     the contract; and
1-57                 (10)  if the contract includes operation or management
1-58     of the facility by the private vendor, contain comprehensive
1-59     standards for conditions of confinement.
1-60           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-61     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-62     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-63     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-64     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 2-1     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 2-2     passage, and it is so enacted.
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