78R412 GWK-F

By:  Hodge                                                        H.B. No. 34 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the operation and oversight of the inmate grievance 
system used by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 501.008, Government Code, is amended by 
amending Subsection (a) and by adding Subsection (g) to read as 
follows:
	(a)  The department shall develop and maintain a system for 
the resolution of grievances by inmates housed in facilities 
operated by the department or under contract with the department 
[that qualifies for certification under 42 U.S.C. Section 1997e and 
the department shall obtain and maintain certification under that 
section].  A remedy provided by the grievance system is the 
exclusive administrative remedy available to an inmate for a claim 
for relief against the department that arises while the inmate is 
housed in a facility operated by the department or under contract 
with the department, other than a remedy provided by writ of habeas 
corpus challenging the validity of an action occurring before the 
delivery of the inmate to the department or to a facility operated 
under contract with the department.
	(g)  The office of the attorney general shall conduct random 
and unannounced reviews of grievances filed under this section, 
department responses to those grievances, and the efficiency and 
fairness of the system developed to respond to those grievances.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.