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By: Allen H.B. No. 1670
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to medically recommended intensive supervision of certain
inmates of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 508.146, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read
as follows:
(a) An inmate, other than an inmate who is serving a
sentence of death or an inmate who has a reportable conviction or
adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure,
[serving a sentence for which parole eligibility is otherwise
determined under Section 508.145(f)] may be released [become
eligible for release] on medically recommended intensive
supervision on a date designated by a parole panel described by
Subsection (e) [that is earlier than the date computed under that
section] if:
(1) the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental
Impairments, in cooperation with the Correctional Managed Health
Care Committee, identifies the inmate as being elderly, physically
handicapped, mentally ill, terminally ill, mentally retarded, or
having a condition requiring long-term care;
(2) the parole panel determines that, based on the
inmate's condition and a medical evaluation, the inmate does not
constitute a threat to public safety; and
(3) the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental
Impairments, in cooperation with the pardons and paroles division,
has prepared for the inmate a medically recommended intensive
supervision plan that requires the inmate to submit to electronic
monitoring, places the inmate on super-intensive supervision, or
otherwise ensures appropriate supervision of the inmate.
(c) The [A] parole panel shall require as a condition of
release under this section that the releasee remain under the care
of a physician and in a medically suitable placement. At least once
each calendar quarter, the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental
Impairments shall report to the parole panel [board] on the
releasee's medical and placement status. On the basis of the
report, the [a] parole panel may modify conditions of release and
impose any condition on the releasee that a [the] panel could impose
on a releasee released under Section 508.145, including a condition
that the releasee reside in a halfway house or community
residential facility.
(e) Only parole panels composed of the presiding officer of
the board and two members appointed to the panel by the presiding
officer may make determinations regarding the release of inmates on
medically recommended intensive supervision under this section. If
the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental Impairments identifies
an inmate as a candidate for release under the guidelines
established by Subsection (a)(1), the council shall present to a
parole panel described by this subsection relevant information
concerning the inmate and the inmate's potential for release under
this section.
SECTION 2. Section 2, Chapter 1435, Acts of the 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is repealed.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies to an
inmate who on or after the effective date of this Act is serving a
sentence in the institutional division of the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice and who is described by Section 508.146(a)(1),
Government Code, regardless of whether the sentence is for an
offense committed before, on, or after the effective date of this
Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.