79R9700 MFC-F
By: Hope, Solis, et al. H.B. No. 1326
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to community supervision and corrections departments and
to the immunity of certain judges for administrative acts in
connection with those departments.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 76.002(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The district judge or district judges trying criminal
cases in each judicial district and the statutory county court
judges trying criminal cases in the county or counties served by the
judicial district shall:
(1) establish a community supervision and corrections
department; and
(2) approve the department's budget and community
justice plan [employ district personnel as necessary to conduct
presentence investigations, supervise and rehabilitate defendants
placed on community supervision, enforce the conditions of
community supervision, and staff community corrections
facilities].
SECTION 2. Section 76.003(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A community justice council must be established by the
[district judge or district] judges described by Section 76.002 in
each jurisdiction served by a department, unless a board or council
that was in existence on September 1, 1991, is performing duties
substantially similar to those imposed on a community justice
council under this section. The council shall provide continuing
policy guidance and direction for the development of community
justice plans and community corrections facilities and programs.
SECTION 3. Section 76.004, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 76.004. DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR; FISCAL OFFICER. (a) The
[district judge or] judges described by Section 76.002 shall
appoint a department director who must meet, at a minimum, the
eligibility requirements for officers established under Section
76.005.
(a-1) The department director shall perform or delegate the
responsibility for performing the following duties:
(1) overseeing the daily operations of the department;
(2) preparing annually or biennially a budget for the
department;
(3) negotiating and entering into contracts on behalf
of the department;
(4) establishing policies and procedures for all
functions of the department;
(5) developing personnel policies and procedures,
including disciplinary proceedings; and
(6) establishing procedures and practices through
which the department will address an employment-related grievance.
(b) The department director shall employ a sufficient
number of officers and other employees to conduct presentence
investigations, supervise and rehabilitate defendants placed on
community supervision, enforce the conditions of community
supervision, and staff community corrections facilities. A person
employed under this subsection is an employee of the department and
not of the judges or judicial districts [perform the professional
and clerical work of the department].
(c) The [district judge or] judges described by Section
76.002 may appoint for the department a fiscal officer, other than
the county auditor. The fiscal officer is responsible for:
(1) managing and protecting funds, fees, state aid,
and receipts to the same extent that a county auditor manages county
funds and funds of other local entities;
(2) ensuring that financial transactions of the
department are lawful and allowable; and
(3) prescribing accounting procedures for the
department.
(d) The [district judge or] judges described by Section
76.002 may appoint a person as fiscal officer only after
investigating the person and determining that the person is:
(1) a person of unquestionably good moral character
and intelligence; and
(2) a financial officer with at least two years'
experience in auditing and accounting.
(e) A fiscal officer appointed under this section, before
beginning employment and not later than the 20th day after the date
of appointment, shall:
(1) take an oath stating that the person meets the
qualifications required by this section and will not have a
personal interest in any contract entered into by the department;
and
(2) execute a good and sufficient surety bond that:
(A) is in the amount of $5,000 or more;
(B) is approved by and payable to the [district
judge or] judges described by Section 76.002; and
(C) is conditioned on the faithful performance by
the fiscal officer of the officer's duties.
(f) The [district judge or] judges described by Section
76.002 shall set the annual compensation of a fiscal officer
appointed under this section, and the department shall pay all
costs related to the functions of the fiscal officer.
(g) Subsections (c)-(f) do not diminish the rights of the
following officers or entities to examine and audit accounts,
records, receipts, and expenditures of a department:
(1) the county auditor of a county served by the
department;
(2) the comptroller; [and]
(3) the state auditor; and
(4) the division.
SECTION 4. Chapter 76, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 76.0045 to read as follows:
Sec. 76.0045. JUDICIAL RESPONSIBILITIES; IMMUNITY. (a)
The responsibility of a judge described by Section 76.002 for
personnel decisions is limited to the appointment of a department
director and a fiscal officer.
(b) The responsibility of a judge described by Section
76.002 for budgetary decisions is limited to:
(1) appointment of a fiscal officer; and
(2) approval of the department's budget.
(c) A judge described by Section 76.002 has judicial
immunity in a suit arising from:
(1) the performance of a duty described by Section
76.002(a); or
(2) the appointment of a department director or a
fiscal officer or an act or failure to act by a department employee
or by a department director or fiscal officer.
SECTION 5. Section 76.0051, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 76.0051. AUTHORIZATION TO CARRY WEAPON. An officer is
authorized to carry a weapon while engaged in the actual discharge
of the officer's duties only if:
(1) the officer possesses a certificate of firearms
proficiency issued by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer
Standards and Education under Section 1701.257, Occupations Code
[415.038]; and
(2) the director of the department agrees [and the
judges participating in the management of the department agree] to
the authorization.
SECTION 6. Section 76.006, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (h) and adding Subsection (j) to read
as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), department
employees are not state employees. The department shall contract
for all employee benefits with one county served by the department
and designated for that purpose by the [district judge or] judges
described by Section 76.002. To the extent that employee benefits
are provided by a county under this subsection, the employees are
governed by personnel policies and benefits equal to personnel
policies for and benefits of other employees of that county. This
subsection does not apply to employee benefits for group insurance
and related coverages provided to employees of a department through
the group benefits program for state employees under Chapter 1551,
Insurance Code.
(h) If under Subsection (a) the [district judge or] judges
described by Section 76.002 change the designation of the county
providing employee benefits, the [district judge or] judges may not
subsequently change that designation before the 10th anniversary of
the date on which the previous designation was made.
(j) The attorney general shall defend a statutory county
court judge in an action in state or federal court if:
(1) the cause of action is the result of the judge
performing a duty described by Section 76.002, 76.003, or 76.004;
and
(2) the judge requests the attorney general's
assistance in the defense.
SECTION 7. Section 76.009(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The [district judge or] judges described by Section
76.002 may expend district funds in order to provide expanded
facilities, equipment, and utilities if:
(1) the department needs to increase its personnel in
order to provide more effective services or to meet workload
requirements established under Chapter 509;
(2) the county or counties certify to the [judge or]
judges described by Section 76.002 that they have neither adequate
space in county-owned buildings nor adequate funds to lease
additional physical facilities, purchase additional equipment, or
pay for additional utilities required by the department; and
(3) the county or counties provide facilities,
equipment, and utilities at or above the levels required by the
division.
SECTION 8. Section 76.010(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) The department [district judge or judges] may authorize
expenditures of funds provided by the division to the department
for the purposes of providing facilities, equipment, and utilities
for community corrections facilities or state jail felony
facilities if:
(1) the community justice council recommends the
expenditures; and
(2) the division, or the state jail division in the
case of a state jail felony facility, provides funds for the purpose
of assisting in the establishment or improvement of the facilities.
SECTION 9. Section 509.007, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 509.007. COMMUNITY JUSTICE PLAN. (a) The division
shall require as a condition to payment of state aid to a department
or county under Section 509.011 [and eligibility for payment of
costs under Section 499.124] that a community justice plan be
submitted for the department. The community justice council shall
submit the plan required by this subsection. A community justice
council may not submit a plan under this section unless the plan is
first approved under Section 76.002 [by the district judges who
manage the department served by the council]. The council shall
submit a revised plan to the division each odd-numbered year by a
date designated by the division. A plan may be amended at any time
with the approval of the division.
(b) A community justice plan required under this section
must include:
(1) a statement of goals and priorities and of
commitment by the community justice council, the [district] judges
who established the department and approve the department's budget
and community justice plan [manage the department], and the
department to achieve a targeted level of alternative sanctions;
(2) a description of methods for measuring the success
of programs provided by the department or provided by an entity
served by the department; and
(3) a proposal for the use of state jail felony
facilities and, at the discretion of the community justice council,
a regional proposal for the construction, operation, maintenance,
or management of a state jail felony facility by a county, a
community supervision and corrections department, or a private
vendor under a contract with a county or a community supervision and
corrections department.
SECTION 10. Section 76.002(b), Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 11. The change in law made by Section 76.0045,
Government Code, as added by this Act, applies only to an act or
failure to act by a judge, a community supervision or corrections
department, or a department director that occurs on or after the
effective date of this Act. An act or failure to act by a judge, a
community supervision and corrections department, or a department
director that occurs before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the act or failure to act
occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2005.