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Floor Packet Page No. 399                                                   

	
Amend CSHB 1 as follows:                                                     
	(1)  Amend Article V, Rider 56 (Inmate Phone System) 
following the appropriations to the Department of Criminal Justice 
(page V-22) and substitute the following appropriately numbered 
rider:
	_____.  INMATE TELEPHONE SYSTEM.  The Texas Department of 
Criminal Justice shall request proposals from private vendors for 
contracts to provide telephone service to inmates and defendants 
confined in facilities operated by the department.  The department 
may not consider a proposal or award a contract to provide the 
service unless under the contract the vendor provides for the 
installation, operation, and maintenance of the service without any 
cost to the state.  The system shall have the capacity to verify 
numbers to be called, verify entry of personal identification 
numbers and/or the use of biometric identifiers, generate reports 
to department personnel on inmate or defendant calls, limit the 
duration and frequency of calls to prevent the likelihood of a 
significant financial burden, provide for the use of published 
tariffs, and use digital recording systems.
	The vendor shall pay the department not less than 40% of gross 
revenue received for such calls placed by inmates and defendants, 
and the cost of such calls shall not be excessive.  The department 
shall transfer all commissions paid to the department by a vendor 
under this section to the comptroller for deposit in the state 
treasury to the credit of the undedicated portion of the general 
revenue fund.
	The Texas Board of Criminal Justice shall adopt rules 
authorizing the use of the telephone service by an inmate or 
defendant confined in the institutional division or in a state jail 
felony facility.  The rules shall authorize the use of the service 
only by an inmate or defendant who is determined to be entitled to 
the privilege on the basis of disciplinary and work records, and for 
periods that add up to a maximum total of between 100 to 300 minutes 
per 90-day period.
	The department shall award an initial contract no later than 
September 1, 2004.