81R361 JSA-D
 
  By: Hodge H.B. No. 672
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the inclusion of an incarcerated person in the
  population data used for redistricting according to the person's
  last residence before incarceration.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 2058, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Sections 2058.003 and 2058.004 to read as follows:
         Sec. 2058.003.  INCLUSION OF INCARCERATED PERSONS IN CENSUS
  COUNTS.  (a) Not later than the next May 1 following the date on
  which the tract-level population counts for this state from the
  federal decennial census are released by the director of the Bureau
  of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce, the
  comptroller shall prepare and disseminate adjusted population
  counts for each geographic unit included in the census counts as
  provided by this section.
         (b)  Not later than June 1 of the year in which the federal
  decennial census is conducted, each state or local governmental
  entity in this state that operates a facility for the incarceration
  of persons convicted of a criminal offense, including a mental
  health institution for those persons, or that places any person
  convicted of a criminal offense in a private facility to be
  incarcerated on behalf of the governmental entity, shall submit a
  report to the comptroller with the following information:
               (1)  the name of each person incarcerated in a facility
  operated by the governmental entity or in a private facility on
  behalf of the governmental entity on the date for which the census
  reports population who completed a census form, responded to a
  census inquiry, or was included in any report provided to census
  officials, if the form, response, or report indicated that the
  person resided at the facility on that date;
               (2)  the age, gender, and race of each person included
  in the report and whether the person is of Hispanic, Latino, or
  Spanish origin, if known; and
               (3)  the last address at which the person resided
  before the person's current incarceration.
         (c)  Each governmental entity required to make a report under
  Subsection (b) shall ensure that the entity collects and maintains
  the information required to make the report.  The comptroller shall
  prescribe procedures that a governmental entity shall use to permit
  each person included in the report to indicate the person's race and
  ethnicity for purposes of Subsection (b)(2) in a manner similar to
  the manner in which a person not incarcerated would indicate the
  person's race and ethnicity for the federal decennial census.
         (d)  The comptroller shall request each agency that operates
  a federal facility in this state that incarcerates persons
  convicted of a criminal offense to provide the comptroller with a
  report including the information listed in Subsection (b) for
  persons convicted of an offense in this state.
         (e)  For each person included in a report received under
  Subsection (b) or (d), the comptroller shall determine the
  geographic units for which population counts are reported in the
  federal decennial census that contain the last address at which the
  person resided before the person's incarceration according to the
  report and, if that address is in this state:
               (1)  adjust all relevant population counts reported in
  the census, including populations by age, gender, race, and
  Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish descent, as if the person resided at
  that address on the day for which the census reports population; and
               (2)  eliminate the person from all applicable
  population counts reported in the federal decennial census for the
  geographic units that include the facility at which the person was
  incarcerated on the day for which the census reports population.
         Sec. 2058.004.  USE OF ADJUSTED CENSUS COUNTS FOR
  REDISTRICTING. (a) Each political subdivision of this state that
  elects any members of a governmental body from election districts,
  wards, or precincts that are subject to the one-person one-vote
  requirement of the Constitution of the United States shall ensure
  that after redistricting each of those election districts, wards,
  or precincts does not vary from the average population of those
  districts, wards, or precincts according to the most recent
  adjusted population counts prepared by the comptroller under
  Section 2058.003 by more than five percent.
         (b)  A state governmental body, including the legislature,
  the Legislative Redistricting Board, or any state court, that
  redistricts any election districts subject to the one-person
  one-vote requirement of the Constitution of the United States shall
  comply with the restriction provided by Subsection (a).
         (c)  A governmental entity to which this section applies may
  exceed the adjusted population restrictions required by this
  section only to the extent necessary to comply with federal law or
  the Texas Constitution.
         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, 2009.