79R572 MFC-D

By:  Dutton                                                       H.B. No. 448



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to in-prison geriatric communities.                                  
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 501, Government Code, is 
amended by adding Section 501.094 to read as follows:
	Sec. 501.094.  IN-PRISON GERIATRIC COMMUNITIES.  (a)  The 
institutional division shall establish a program to confine and 
treat in in-prison geriatric communities inmates who are 60 years 
of age or older.
	(b)  The institutional division and the Texas Department of 
Aging and Disability Services shall jointly develop methods of 
screening and assessing inmates to determine their needs as 
geriatric inmates.  The institutional division shall screen for 
geriatric problems each inmate in the custody of the institutional 
division not later than the inmate's 58th birthday.
	(c)  The program must consist of a treatment program of 
indeterminate length that addresses the special problems of 
geriatric inmates.
	(d)  The institutional division shall separate inmates 
participating in the program from the general population of the 
division and house the inmates in discrete units or areas within 
units, except during the diagnostic process or at other times 
determined to be necessary by the division for medical or security 
purposes.
	(e)  The institutional division shall employ or contract 
with qualified professionals to implement the program.  For 
purposes of this subsection, a "qualified professional" is a person 
who has at least two years of experience in geriatric counseling and 
is:
		(1)  a certified social worker or advanced clinical 
practitioner;    
		(2)  a licensed professional counselor, advanced 
practice nurse, physician, or psychologist; or
		(3)  a registered nurse with a master's degree in 
psychiatric or mental health nursing.
	(f)  The institutional division shall adopt rules of conduct 
for inmates participating in the program.
	(g)  If the qualified professional implementing the program 
determines that an inmate is not complying with the rules of the 
program, the qualified professional shall notify the institutional 
division of that fact and the institutional division shall end the 
inmate's participation in the program and transfer the inmate out 
of the program.
	(h)  The institutional division shall provide at least 800 
beds for housing participants in the program.  The institutional 
division not less often than every two years shall determine 
whether the division should increase the number of beds provided by 
the division for the program.
	(i)  If funding is available, the criminal justice division 
of the governor's office, with the assistance of the institutional 
division, shall develop methods to evaluate the processes used by 
the division in providing the program and the level of success 
achieved by the program.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.