79R4076 MFC-F

By:  Uresti                                                       H.B. No. 3233



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the administration and operation of community 
supervision and corrections 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 
judge or 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 76.004, Government Code, is amended by 
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (g) and adding Subsections (b-1) 
and (c-1) to read as follows:
	(a)  The district judge or judges and the statutory county 
court judge or judges described by Section 76.002(a) shall appoint 
a department director who must meet, at a minimum, the eligibility 
requirements for officers established under Section 76.005.
	(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].
	(b-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 an annual or biennial 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.
	(c-1)  In a department where a fiscal officer is not 
appointed, the department director shall fulfill the fiscal 
officer's responsibilities.
	(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 division; and                                                 
		(4)  the state auditor.                                                
	SECTION 3.  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 district or statutory county court judge 
described by Section 76.002(a) for personnel decisions is limited 
to the appointment of a department director.
	(b)  The responsibility of a district or statutory county 
court judge described by Section 76.002(a) for budgetary decisions 
is limited to:
		(1)  appointment of a fiscal officer; and                              
		(2)  approval of the department's budget.                              
	(c)  A district or statutory county court judge described by 
Section 76.002(a) 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 an act 
or failure to act by a department director.
	SECTION 4.  Section 76.006, Government Code, is amended by 
adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:
	(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, 76.004, or 76.0045;
		(2)  the judge requests the attorney general's 
assistance in the defense; and
		(3)  there is no action pending against the judge in 
which the attorney general is required to represent the state or 
another political subdivision.
	SECTION 5.  Section 76.002(b), Government Code, is repealed.                   
	SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by Sections 74.0045 and 
76.006(j), Government Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a 
cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of this 
Act.  A cause of action that accrues before the effective date of 
this Act is governed by the law in effect when the cause of action 
accrued, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.