79R8548 GWK-D

By:  West, Royce                                                  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 
offer a plan that contains 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 training 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, 
report to the board on the scope, effectiveness, and cost benefit of 
programs funded by grants provided under this section, and in the 
report shall also compare those programs to similar programs in 
existence in various departments before March 1, 2005.  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.  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.