By Hodge H.B. No. 3509
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 the provision of visitation facilities by the Texas
1-3 Department of Criminal Justice and to The Role of the Family in
1-4 Reducing Recidivism Advisory Committee.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter G. Corrections, Chapter 501.010,
1-7 Visitors, of the General Statutes, shall be amended as follows:
1-8 (b) The institutional division shall provide adequate and
1-9 appropriate facilities for non-contact and contact visitation at
1-10 each unit where inmates eligible for visitation are housed, and is
1-11 hereby authorized to expend funds from the appropriation for prison
1-12 construction and renovation for this purpose.
1-13 Subsections (b) and (c) shall be renumbered as Subsections
1-14 (c) and (d) respectively.
1-15 (c) The institutional division shall have a uniform
1-16 visitation policy, approved by the Board of Criminal Justice, that
1-17 allows eligible inmates housed in facilities operated by the
1-18 division, [other than state jails,] to receive visitors. The
1-19 institutional division shall require each warden in the division
1-20 to:
1-21 (1) apply the policy to the unit under the warden's
1-22 control;
1-23 (2) prominently display copies of the policy in
2-1 locations in the unit that are accessible to inmates [or] and
2-2 visitors, including but not limited to the visitors' waiting room
2-3 or area; and,
2-4 (3) [if requested,] provide visitors with copies of
2-5 the policy.
2-6 (d) At the end of each [biennium,] fiscal year, each warden
2-7 in the institutional division shall report to the director of the
2-8 division on the manner in which the policy has affected visitation
2-9 at the warden's unit during the preceding [two years,] year, such
2-10 reports being public records.
2-11 (e) The Director of the Institutional Division shall report
2-12 to the Board of Criminal Justice annually the number of visitations
2-13 that have taken place at each unit of the division, and on the
2-14 adequacy and appropriateness of the visitation facilities at each
2-15 unit.
2-16 SECTION 2. Subchapter G, Corrections, Section 501.11, Family
2-17 Advisory Committee, shall be amended as follows:
2-18 Subsection (a) shall be amended by substituting the following
2-19 new Subsection:
2-20 (a) A Family Advisory Committee shall be established in the
2-21 Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and shall include the
2-22 following persons: A representative of the Department's
2-23 institutional division, a representative of the Department's state
2-24 jail division, a representative of the Board of Pardons and
2-25 Paroles, a representative of the Texas Youth Commission's Community
2-26 Services Division, a representative of the attorney general, two
3-1 members appointed by the governor, two members appointed by the
3-2 lieutenant governor, and two members appointed by the speaker of
3-3 the Texas House of Representatives. Each appointed member must be
3-4 a citizen of the state, and preference shall be given to appointees
3-5 who are or have been family members of inmates or of juveniles
3-6 detained by the Texas Youth Commission. The members of the
3-7 Committee, whether assigned by an agency or appointed by an
3-8 officer, shall serve an indefinite term. The Committee shall meet
3-9 at the call of the Chairman not less than twice each year.
3-10 (b) The Chairman of the Board of Criminal Justice shall
3-11 appoint the chairman of the Family Advisory Committee, who shall
3-12 serve a term of one year from the date of appointment.
3-13 (c) The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall provide
3-14 facilities for the meetings of the Committee and shall be the
3-15 repository for the records of the Committee's meetings, reports,
3-16 and other acts.
3-17 (Original subsections (b) and (g) were previously repealed.)
3-18 [(h)] (d) The advisory committee shall make studies of and
3-19 make recommendations to the department and to the legislature
3-20 relating to:
3-21 (1) visitation policies in facilities operated by the
3-22 department;
3-23 (2) the availability and effectiveness of
3-24 rehabilitation programs in facilities operated by the department;
3-25 (3) the [efficiency] efficacy of educational and
3-26 vocational programs in facilities operated by the department;
4-1 (4) special problems faced by inmates with children;
4-2 (5) the special needs of indigent inmates and those
4-3 suffering from mental illness or having a substantial degree of
4-4 mental retardation;
4-5 (6) policies and laws relating to the distribution of
4-6 release money to inmates, and
4-7 (7) other issues of special interest to families with
4-8 a [relative] member housed in a facilities operated by the
4-9 department or the Texas Youth Commission.
4-10 SECTION 3. Subchapter G, Corrections, Section 501.012,
4-11 Family Liaison Officer, shall be amended as follows:
4-12 Subsection (2) shall be amended by striking the work "and" at
4-13 the end of the subsection.
4-14 Subsection (3) shall be amended by adding the work "and" at
4-15 the end of the subsection.
4-16 A new Subsection (4) shall be added as follows:
4-17 (4) be present or readily available in the unit's visitation
4-18 facilities on each day when visitation is permitted.
4-19 SECTION 4. The provisions of this Act shall take effect on
4-20 September 1, 2001.