By: West S.B. No. 938
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of a prison diversion pilot program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 509, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 509.016 to read as follows:
Sec. 509.016. PRISON DIVERSION PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The
division shall establish a pilot program that provides grants to
selected departments for the implementation of a system of
progressive sanctions designed to reduce the revocation rate of
defendants placed on community supervision. The division shall
give priority in providing grants to departments serving counties
in which the revocation rate for defendants on community
supervision significantly exceeds the statewide average.
(b) In determining which departments are proper candidates
for grants under this section, the division shall give preference
to departments that present to the division a plan that will target
medium-risk and high-risk defendants and use progressive sanction
models similar to those currently in use in departments serving
Fort Bend and El Paso Counties and drug courts in Harris and Dallas
Counties. As a condition to receiving a grant, a department must
meet criteria developed by the division. The criteria must contain
some if not all of the following components:
(1) reduced and specialized caseloads for supervision
officers, which may include electronic monitoring or substance
abuse testing of defendants;
(2) the creation, designation, and fiscal support of
courts and associated infrastructure necessary to increase
judicial oversight and reduce revocations;
(3) increased monitoring and field contact by
supervision officers;
(4) shortened terms of community supervision, with
increased supervision during the earliest part of the term;
(5) graduated sanctions and incentives, offered to a
defendant by both the departments and courts served by the
department;
(6) the use of inpatient and outpatient treatment
options, including substance abuse treatment, mental health
treatment, and cognitive and behavioral programs for defendants;
(7) the use of intermediate sanctions facilities;
(8) the use of community corrections beds;
(9) early termination strategies and capabilities;
(10) gang intervention strategies; and
(11) risk assessment techniques and reassessment
techniques.
(c) The division shall, not later than December 1, 2006,
provide a report to the board. The report must state the number of
departments receiving grants under this section, identify those
departments by name, and describe for each department receiving a
grant the components of the department's program and the success of
the department in reducing revocations. The report must also
contain an analysis of the scope, effectiveness, and cost benefit
of programs funded by grants provided under this section and a
comparison of those programs to similar programs in existence in
various departments before March 1, 2005. The division may include
in the report any other information the division determines will be
beneficial to the board or the legislature. The board shall forward
the report to the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house
of representatives not later than December 15, 2006.
SECTION 2. The community justice assistance division of the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall develop criteria and
review grant proposals, as required by Section 509.016, Government
Code, as added by this Act, as soon as possible after the effective
date of this Act, and shall begin making grants under that section
not later than September 30, 2005.
SECTION 3. 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.