By Chavez H.B. No. 2583
77R4584 PEP-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to AIDS, HIV, and hepatitis education and testing for
1-3 inmates and employees of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 501.054, Government Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 501.054. AIDS, [AND] HIV, AND HEPATITIS EDUCATION;
1-8 TESTING. (a) In this section, "AIDS," "HIV," and "test result"
1-9 have the meanings assigned by Section 81.101, Health and Safety
1-10 Code.
1-11 (b) The department, in consultation with the Texas
1-12 Department of Health, shall establish education programs to educate
1-13 inmates and employees of the department about AIDS, [and] HIV, and
1-14 hepatitis. In establishing the programs for inmates, the department
1-15 shall design a program that deals with issues related to AIDS,
1-16 [and] HIV, and hepatitis that are relevant to inmates while
1-17 confined and a program that deals with issues related to AIDS,
1-18 [and] HIV, and hepatitis that will be relevant to inmates after the
1-19 inmates are released. The department shall design the programs to
1-20 take into account relevant cultural and other differences among
1-21 inmates. The department shall require each inmate in a facility
1-22 operated by the department to participate in education programs
1-23 established under this subsection.
1-24 (c) The department shall require each employee of the
2-1 department to participate in programs established under this
2-2 section at least once during each calendar year.
2-3 (d) The department shall ensure that education programs for
2-4 employees include information and training relating to infection
2-5 control procedures. The department shall also ensure that
2-6 employees have infection control supplies and equipment readily
2-7 available.
2-8 (e) The department, in consultation with the Texas
2-9 Department of Health, shall periodically revise education programs
2-10 established under this section so that the programs reflect the
2-11 latest medical information available on AIDS, [and] HIV, and
2-12 hepatitis.
2-13 (f) The department shall adopt a policy for handling persons
2-14 who have [with] AIDS or hepatitis or are infected with HIV and
2-15 [infection who] are in the custody of the department or under the
2-16 department's supervision. The policy must be substantially similar
2-17 to a model policy developed by the Texas Department of Health under
2-18 Subchapter G, Chapter 85, Health and Safety Code.
2-19 (g) The department shall maintain the confidentiality of
2-20 test results of an inmate indicating the presence of AIDS,
2-21 hepatitis, or HIV infection after the inmate's discharge, release
2-22 from a state jail, or release on parole or mandatory supervision
2-23 and may not honor the request of an agency of the state or any
2-24 person who requests a test result as a condition of housing or
2-25 supervising the inmate while the inmate is on community supervision
2-26 or parole or mandatory supervision, unless honoring the request
2-27 would improve the ability of the inmate to obtain essential health
3-1 and social services.
3-2 (h) The department shall report to the legislature not later
3-3 than January 15 of each odd-numbered year concerning the
3-4 implementation of this section and the participation of inmates and
3-5 employees of the department in education programs established under
3-6 this section.
3-7 (i) The institutional division shall test an inmate confined
3-8 in a facility operated by the division for AIDS, hepatitis, or HIV
3-9 infection if the inmate is 22 years of age or older and has been
3-10 sentenced to a term of confinement in a penal institution of more
3-11 than two years. The institutional division may test any other [an]
3-12 inmate confined in a facility operated by the division for AIDS,
3-13 hepatitis, or HIV infection [human immunodeficiency virus]. If the
3-14 institutional division determines that an inmate has a positive
3-15 test result, the division may segregate the inmate from other
3-16 inmates.
3-17 SECTION 2. Section 507.023, Government Code, is amended to
3-18 read as follows:
3-19 Sec. 507.023. AIDS, [and] HIV, AND HEPATITIS EDUCATION;
3-20 TESTING. (a) The state jail division shall establish and provide
3-21 education programs to educate state jail division employees and
3-22 defendants in state jail felony facilities about AIDS, [and] HIV,
3-23 and hepatitis in the same manner as the institutional division
3-24 establishes and provides programs for employees and inmates under
3-25 Section 501.054.
3-26 (b) The state jail division shall test a defendant confined
3-27 in a state jail felony facility for AIDS, hepatitis, or HIV
4-1 infection if the defendant is 22 years of age or older and has been
4-2 sentenced to a term of confinement in a penal institution of more
4-3 than two years. The state jail division may test a defendant for
4-4 AIDS, hepatitis, or HIV infection and shall adopt a policy for
4-5 handling a defendant who has [with] AIDS or hepatitis or is
4-6 infected with HIV [and may test a defendant for AIDS or HIV] in the
4-7 same manner and subject to the same conditions as apply to the
4-8 institutional division under Section 501.054.
4-9 (c) In this section, "AIDS" and "HIV" have the meanings
4-10 assigned by Section 81.101, Health and Safety Code.
4-11 SECTION 3. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
4-12 establish the programs, adopt the policies, and initiate the
4-13 testing procedures required by Sections 501.054 and 507.023,
4-14 Government Code, as amended by this Act, not later than January 1,
4-15 2002.
4-16 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.