By Haggerty, Allen                                     H.B. No. 772
         77R10134 GWK-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the eligibility of certain offenders for medically
 1-3     recommended intensive supervision and the provision of facilities
 1-4     for those offenders.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Section 508.146, Government Code, is amended to
 1-7     read as follows:
 1-8           Sec. 508.146.  MEDICALLY RECOMMENDED INTENSIVE SUPERVISION
 1-9     [SPECIAL NEEDS PAROLE]. (a)  An inmate serving a sentence for which
1-10     parole eligibility is otherwise determined under Section 508.145(f)
1-11     may become eligible for release on medically recommended intensive
1-12     supervision [special needs parole] on a date designated by a parole
1-13     panel that is earlier than the date computed under that section if:
1-14                 (1)  the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental
1-15     Impairments, in cooperation with the Correctional Managed Health
1-16     Care Committee, [institutional division] identifies the inmate as
1-17     being elderly, physically handicapped, mentally ill, terminally
1-18     ill, [or] mentally retarded, or having a condition requiring
1-19     long-term care;
1-20                 (2)  the parole panel determines that, based on the
1-21     inmate's condition and a medical evaluation, the inmate does not
1-22     constitute a threat to public safety [or a threat to commit an
1-23     offense]; and
1-24                 (3)  the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental
 2-1     Impairments, in cooperation with the pardons and paroles division,
 2-2     has prepared for the inmate a medically recommended intensive
 2-3     supervision [special needs parole] plan that requires the inmate to
 2-4     submit to electronic monitoring, places the inmate on
 2-5     super-intensive supervision, or otherwise ensures appropriate
 2-6     supervision of the inmate[, service provision, and placement].
 2-7           (b)  An inmate [diagnosed as mentally ill or mentally
 2-8     retarded] may be released on medically recommended intensive
 2-9     supervision [special needs parole] only if the inmate's medically
2-10     recommended intensive supervision [special needs parole] plan under
2-11     Subsection (a)(3) is approved by the Texas Council on Offenders
2-12     with Mental Impairments.
2-13           (c)  A parole panel shall require as a condition of release
2-14     under this section that the releasee remain under the care of a
2-15     physician and in a medically suitable placement.  At least once
2-16     each calendar quarter, the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental
2-17     Impairments shall report to the board on the releasee's medical and
2-18     placement status.  On the basis of the report, a parole panel may
2-19     modify conditions of release and impose any condition on the
2-20     releasee that the panel could impose on a releasee released under
2-21     Section 508.145, including a condition that the releasee reside in
2-22     a halfway house or community residential facility.
2-23           (d)  The Texas Council on Offenders with Mental Impairments
2-24     and the Texas Department of Human Services shall jointly request
2-25     proposals from public or private vendors to provide under contract
2-26     services for inmates released on medically recommended intensive
2-27     supervision.  A request for proposal under this subsection may
 3-1     require that the services be provided in a medical care facility
 3-2     located in an urban area.  For the purposes of this subsection,
 3-3     "urban area" means the area in this state within a metropolitan
 3-4     statistical area, according to the standards of the United States
 3-5     Bureau of the Census.
 3-6           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.