By Haggerty                                            H.B. No. 772
         77R1747 GWK-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the eligibility of certain offenders for special needs
 1-3     parole and the provision of facilities for special needs parolees.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 508.146, Government Code, is amended by
 1-6     amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
 1-7     follows:
 1-8           (a)  An inmate serving a sentence for which parole
 1-9     eligibility is otherwise determined under Section 508.145(f) may
1-10     become eligible for release on special needs parole on a date
1-11     designated by a parole panel that is earlier than the date computed
1-12     under that section if:
1-13                 (1)  the institutional division identifies the inmate
1-14     as being elderly, physically handicapped, significantly ill with a
1-15     chronic disease, mentally ill, terminally ill, or mentally
1-16     retarded;
1-17                 (2)  the parole panel determines that, based on the
1-18     inmate's condition and a medical evaluation, the inmate does not
1-19     constitute a threat to public safety or a threat to commit an
1-20     offense; and
1-21                 (3)  the pardons and paroles division has prepared for
1-22     the inmate a special needs parole plan that ensures appropriate
1-23     supervision, service provision, and placement.
1-24           (c)  The Texas Council on Offenders with Mental Impairments
 2-1     and the Texas Department of Human Services shall jointly request
 2-2     proposals from public or private vendors to provide under contract
 2-3     services for inmates released on special needs parole.  A request
 2-4     for proposal under this subsection must require that the services
 2-5     be provided in a nursing home located in an urban area. For the
 2-6     purposes of this subsection, "urban area" means the area in this
 2-7     state within a metropolitan statistical area, according to the
 2-8     standards of the United States Bureau of the Census.
 2-9           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.