By:  Moncrief                                          S.B. No. 644
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to continuity of care for offenders with mental
 1-3     impairments.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 614.013, Health and Safety Code, is
 1-6     amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections
 1-7     (d) and (e) to read as follows:
 1-8           (a)  The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas
 1-9     Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, representatives
1-10     of local mental health or mental retardation authorities appointed
1-11     by the commissioner of the Texas Department of Mental Health and
1-12     Mental Retardation, and the directors of community supervision and
1-13     corrections departments [by rule] shall adopt a memorandum of
1-14     understanding that establishes their respective responsibilities to
1-15     institute a continuity of care and service program for offenders
1-16     with mental impairments in the criminal justice system.  The
1-17     council shall coordinate and monitor the development and
1-18     implementation of the memorandum of understanding.
1-19           (b)  The memorandum of understanding must establish methods
1-20     for:
1-21                 (1)  identifying offenders with mental impairments in
1-22     the criminal justice system and collecting and reporting prevalence
1-23     rate data to the council;
1-24                 (2)  developing interagency rules, policies, [and]
1-25     procedures, and standards for the coordination of care of and the
 2-1     exchange of information on offenders with mental impairments by
 2-2     local and state criminal justice agencies, the Texas Department of
 2-3     Mental Health and Mental Retardation, [and] local mental health or
 2-4     mental retardation authorities, the Commission on Jail
 2-5     Standards,[;] and local jails;
 2-6                 (3)  identifying the services needed by offenders with
 2-7     mental impairments to reenter the community successfully; and
 2-8                 (4)  establishing a process to report implementation
 2-9     activities to the council.
2-10           (d)  Local and state criminal justice agencies shall,
2-11     whenever possible, contract with local mental health or mental
2-12     retardation authorities to maximize Medicaid funding and improve on
2-13     the continuity of care and service program for offenders with
2-14     mental impairments in the criminal justice system.
2-15           (e)  The council, in coordination with each state agency
2-16     identified in Subsection (b)(2), shall develop a standardized
2-17     process for collecting and reporting the memorandum of
2-18     understanding implementation outcomes by local and state criminal
2-19     justice agencies and local and state mental health or mental
2-20     retardation authorities.  The findings of these reports shall be
2-21     submitted to the council by September 1 of each even-numbered year
2-22     and shall be included in recommendations to the legislature in the
2-23     council's biennium report.
2-24           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.