Amend SB 11 on 3rd reading by adding the following
appropriately numbered ARTICLE to the bill and renumbering
subsequent ARTICLES of the bill accordingly:
ARTICLE ____. DISEASE MANAGEMENT
SECTION ____.01. Section 81.082, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) A health authority may designate health care
facilities within the health authority's jurisdiction that are
capable of providing services for the examination, observation,
quarantine, isolation, treatment, or imposition of control
measures during a public health disaster or during an area
quarantine under Section 81.085. A health authority may not
designate a nursing home or other institution licensed under
Chapter 242.
SECTION ____.02. Section 81.083, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (k) and (l) to read as follows:
(k) If the department or a health authority has reasonable
cause to believe that a group of five or more individuals has been
exposed to or infected with a communicable disease, the department
or health authority may order the members of the group to implement
control measures that are reasonable and necessary to prevent the
introduction, transmission, and spread of the disease in this
state. If the department or health authority adopts control
measures under this subsection, each member of the group is subject
to the requirements of this section.
(l) An order under Subsection (k) must be in writing and be
delivered personally or by registered or certified mail to each
member of the group, or the member's parent, legal guardian, or
managing conservator if the member is a minor. If the name,
address, and county of residence of any member of the group is
unknown at the time the order is issued, the department or health
authority must publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation
in the county that includes the area of the suspected exposure and
any other county in which the department or health authority
suspects a member of the group resides. The notice must contain the
following information:
(1) that the department or health authority has
reasonable cause to believe that a group of individuals is ill with,
has been exposed to, or is the carrier of a communicable disease;
(2) the suspected time and place of exposure to the
disease;
(3) a copy of any orders under Subsection (k);
(4) instructions to an individual to provide the
individual's name, address, and county of residence to the
department or health authority if the individual knows or
reasonably suspects that the individual was at the place of the
suspected exposure at the time of the suspected exposure;
(5) that the department or health authority may
request that an application for court orders under Subchapter G be
filed for the group, if applicable; and
(6) that a criminal penalty applies to an individual
who:
(A) is a member of the group; and
(B) knowingly refuses to perform or allow the
performance of the control measures in the order.
SECTION __.03. Section 81.151, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) A single application may be filed for a group if:
(1) the department or health authority reasonably
suspects that a group of five or more persons has been exposed to or
infected with a communicable disease; and
(2) each person in the group meets the criteria of this
chapter for court orders for the management of a person with a
communicable disease.
SECTION ____.04. Subchapter G, Chapter 81, Health and
Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 81.1511 to read as
follows:
Sec. 81.1511. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER TO GROUP. To the
extent possible, and except as otherwise provided, if a group
application is filed under Section 81.151(e), the provisions of
this subchapter apply to the group in the same manner as they apply
to an individual, except that:
(1) except as provided by Subdivision (2), any
statement or determination regarding the conduct or status of a
person must be made in regard to the majority of the members of the
group;
(2) any finding or statement related to compliance
with orders under Section 81.083 must be made for the entire group;
(3) any notice required to be provided to a person
must:
(A) in addition to being sent to each individual
in the group for whom the department or health authority has an
address, be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the
county that includes the area of the suspected contamination and
any other county in which the department or health authority
suspects a member of the group resides;
(B) state that the group is appointed an attorney
but that a member of the group is entitled to the member's own
attorney on request; and
(C) include instructions for any person who
reasonably suspects that the person was at the place of the
suspected exposure at the time of the suspected exposure to provide
the person's name, address, and county of residence to the
department or health authority; and
(4) an affidavit of medical evaluation for the group
may be based on evaluation of one or more members of the group if the
physician reasonably believes that the condition of the individual
or individuals represents the condition of the majority of the
members of the group.
SECTION ____.05. Section 81.152, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) A group application must contain the following
information according to the applicant's information and belief:
(1) a description of the group and the location where
the members of the group may be found;
(2) a narrative of how the group has been exposed or
infected;
(3) an estimate of how many persons are included in the
group;
(4) to the extent known, a list containing the name,
address, and county of residence in this state of each member of the
group;
(5) if the applicant is unable to obtain the name and
address of each member of the group:
(A) a statement that the applicant has sought
each of the unknown names and addresses; and
(B) the reason that the names and addresses are
unavailable; and
(6) a statement, to be included only in an application
for inpatient treatment, that the members of the group fail or
refuse to comply with written orders of the department or health
authority under Section 81.083, if applicable.
SECTION ____.06. Subchapter G, Chapter 81, Health and
Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 81.1531 to read as
follows:
Sec. 81.1531. APPOINTMENT OF ATTORNEY FOR GROUP. (a) A
judge shall appoint an attorney to represent a group identified in a
group application under Section 81.151(e) and shall appoint an
attorney for each person who is listed in the application if
requested by a person in the group who does not have an attorney.
(b) To the extent possible, the provisions of this chapter
that apply to an individual's attorney apply to a group's attorney.
SECTION ____.07. Subsection (a), Section 81.159, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall designate health care facilities
throughout the state that are capable of providing services for the
examination, observation, isolation, or treatment of persons
having or suspected of having a communicable disease. However, the
commissioner may not designate:
(1) a nursing home or custodial care home required to
be licensed under Chapter 242; or
(2) an intermediate care facility for the mentally
retarded required to be licensed under Chapter 252.
SECTION ____.08. Section 81.162, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (f) and (g) to read as follows:
(f) Notwithstanding Section 81.161 or Subsection (c), a
judge or magistrate may issue a temporary protective custody order
before the filing of an application for a court order for the
management of a person with a communicable disease under Section
81.151 if:
(1) the judge or magistrate takes testimony that an
application under Section 81.151, together with a motion for
protective custody under Section 81.161, will be filed with the
court on the next business day; and
(2) the judge or magistrate determines based on
evidence taken under Subsection (d) that there is probable cause to
believe that the person presents a substantial risk of serious harm
to himself or others to the extent that the person cannot be at
liberty pending the filing of the application and motion.
(g) A temporary protective custody order issued under
Subsection (f) may continue only until 4 p.m. on the first business
day after the date the order is issued unless the application for a
court order for the management of a person with a communicable
disease and a motion for protective custody, as described by
Subsection (f)(1), are filed at or before that time. If the
application and motion are filed at or before 4 p.m. on the first
business day after the date the order is issued, the temporary
protective custody order may continue for the period reasonably
necessary for the court to rule on the motion for protective
custody.
SECTION ____.09. Subsections (b) and (d), Section 81.165,
Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The hearing must be held not later than 72 hours after
the time that the person was detained under the protective custody
order. If the period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday,
the hearing must be held on the next day that is not a Saturday,
Sunday, or legal holiday. The judge or magistrate may postpone the
hearing for an additional 24 hours if the judge or magistrate
declares that an extreme emergency exists because of extremely
hazardous weather conditions that threaten the safety of the person
or another essential party to the hearing. If the area in which the
person is found, or the area where the hearing will be held, is
under a public health disaster, the judge or magistrate may
postpone the hearing until the period of disaster is ended.
(d) The person and his attorney shall have an opportunity at
the hearing to appear and present evidence to challenge the
allegation that the person presents a substantial risk of serious
harm to himself or others. If the health authority advises the
court that the person must remain in isolation or quarantine and
that exposure to the judge, jurors, or the public would jeopardize
the health and safety of those persons and the public health, a
magistrate or a master may order that a person entitled to a hearing
for a protective custody order may not appear in person and may
appear only by teleconference or another means the magistrate or
master finds appropriate to allow the person to speak, to interact
with witnesses, and to confer with the person's attorney.
SECTION ____.10. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 81.167,
Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A person under a protective custody order shall be
detained in an appropriate inpatient health facility that has been
designated by the commissioner or by a health authority and
selected by the health authority under Section 81.159.
(c) A person under a protective custody order may be
detained in a nonmedical facility used to detain persons who are
charged with or convicted of a crime only with the consent of the
medical director of the facility and only if the facility has
respiratory isolation capability for airborne communicable
diseases. The person may not be detained in a nonmedical facility
under this subsection for longer than 72 hours, excluding
Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, [and] the period prescribed by
Section 81.165(b) for an extreme weather emergency, and the
duration of a public health disaster. The person must be isolated
from any person who is charged with or convicted of a crime.
SECTION ____.11. Subsection (c), Section 81.168, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) The head of a facility shall discharge a person held
under a protective custody order if:
(1) the head of the facility does not receive notice
within 72 hours after detention begins, excluding Saturdays,
Sundays, legal holidays, [and] the period prescribed by Section
81.165(b) for an extreme weather emergency, and the duration of a
public health disaster, that a probable cause hearing was held and
the person's continued detention was authorized;
(2) a final court order for the management of a person
with a communicable disease has not been entered within the time
prescribed by Section 81.154; or
(3) the health authority or commissioner determines
that the person no longer meets the criteria for protective custody
prescribed by Section 81.162.
SECTION ____.12. Section 81.169, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
(i) Notwithstanding Subsection (d), if the health authority
advises the court that the person must remain in isolation or
quarantine and that exposure to the judge, jurors, or the public
would jeopardize the health and safety of those persons and the
public health, a judge may order that a person entitled to a hearing
may not appear in person and may appear only by teleconference or
another means that the judge finds appropriate to allow the person
to speak, to interact with witnesses, and to confer with the
person's attorney.
SECTION ____.13. Section 81.176, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.176. DESIGNATION OF FACILITY. In a court order for
the temporary or extended management of a person with a
communicable disease specifying inpatient care, the court shall
commit the person to a health care facility designated by the
commissioner or a health authority in accordance with Section
81.159.
SECTION ____.14. Section 81.177, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 81.177. COMMITMENT TO PRIVATE FACILITY. (a) The
court may order a person committed to a private health care facility
at no expense to the state if the court receives:
(1) an application signed by the person or the person's
guardian or next friend requesting that the person be placed in a
designated private health care facility at the person's or
applicant's expense; and
(2) a written agreement from the head of the private
health care facility to admit the person and to accept
responsibility for the person in accordance with this chapter.
(b) Consistent with Subsection (a), the court may order a
person committed to a private health care facility at no expense to
the state, a county, a municipality, or a hospital district if:
(1) a state of disaster or a public health disaster has
been declared or an area quarantine is imposed under Section
81.085;
(2) the health care facility is located within the
disaster area or area quarantine, as applicable; and
(3) the judge determines that there is no public
health care facility within the disaster area or area quarantine,
as applicable, that has appropriate facilities and the capacity
available to receive and treat the person.
(c) Nothing in this section prevents a health care facility
that accepts a person under this section from pursuing
reimbursement from any appropriate source, such as a third-party
public or private payor or disaster relief fund.