81R499 KCR-D

By: Laubenberg H.B. No. 1225

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the establishment, operation, or change in use or capacity of certain community residential facilities or correctional or rehabilitation facilities.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 508.119, Government Code, is amended by amending Subsection (i) and adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:

(i) The notice required by Subsection (d) must clearly state that the proposed action concerns a facility in which persons who have been released from prison on parole or to mandatory supervision are to be housed. If the notice is provided in the manner required by Section 509.010(b)(2), the notice must be mailed in an envelope clearly marked on the outside with the words "NOTICE OF PROPOSED RESIDENTIAL FACILITY."

(j) The division may not take any action listed in Subsection (d) without first determining the level of community support for the proposed action by:

(1) inviting each person entitled to notice of the proposed action under Section 509.010(b)(2) to submit a written statement to the division concerning the proposed action; and

(2) evaluating any written statement submitted under Subdivision (1) that the division receives on or before the date of the public hearing concerning the proposed action.

SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 508, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 508.192 to read as follows:

Sec. 508.192. OPERATION OF CERTAIN FACILITIES PROHIBITED. A parole panel shall require as a condition of parole or mandatory supervision that a releasee not own or operate or otherwise have a pecuniary interest in the ownership or operation of:

(1) a community residential facility described by Section 508.119;

(2) a correctional or rehabilitation facility subject to Chapter 244, Local Government Code; or

(3) any other facility intended to accomplish a purpose or provide a service described by Section 508.119(a) to a person convicted of a misdemeanor or felony or found to have engaged in delinquent conduct who is housed in the facility:

(A) while serving a sentence of confinement following conviction of an offense or an adjudication of delinquent conduct; or

(B) as a condition of community supervision, probation, parole, or mandatory supervision.

SECTION 3. Section 244.001, Local Government Code, is amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:

(1) "Correctional or rehabilitation facility" means:

(A) a probation or parole office; or

(B) a residential facility that:

(i) [(A)] is operated by an agency of the state, a political subdivision of the state, or a private vendor, regardless of whether the vendor is operating the facility under a contract with an agency of the state or a political subdivision of the state; and

(ii) [(B)] houses persons convicted of misdemeanors or felonies or children found to have engaged in delinquent conduct, regardless of whether the persons are housed in the residential facility:

(a) [(i)] while serving a sentence of confinement following conviction of an offense;

(b) [(ii)] as a condition of community supervision, probation, parole, or mandatory supervision; or

(c) [(iii)] under a court order for out-of-home placement under Title 3, Family Code, other than in a foster home operated under a contract with the juvenile board of the county in which the foster home is located or under a contract with the Texas Youth Commission.

(3) "Private vendor" includes any person that:

(A) operates or seeks to operate a correctional or rehabilitation facility; and

(B) is not an agency of the state or a political subdivision of the state.

SECTION 4. Section 244.002, Local Government Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:

(a) An agency of the state, a political subdivision of the state, or a private vendor [operating under a contract with an agency or political subdivision of the state] that proposes to construct or operate a correctional or rehabilitation facility within 1,000 feet of a residential area, a primary or secondary school, property designated as a public park or public recreation area by the state or a political subdivision of the state, or a church, synagogue, or other place of worship shall:

(1) provide written notice to:

(A) the commissioners court of any county with an unincorporated area that includes all or part of the land within 1,000 feet of the proposed correctional or rehabilitation facility; and

(B) the governing body of any municipality that includes within its boundaries all or part of the land within 1,000 feet of the proposed correctional or rehabilitation facility; and

(2) post the notice required by Subsection (d).

(e) If an entity required to give written notice under Subsection (a) mails that written notice, the notice must be mailed in an envelope clearly marked on the outside with the words "NOTICE OF PROPOSED CORRECTIONAL OR REHABILITATION FACILITY."

(f) An entity required to give notice under Subsection (a) must:

(1) invite each member of a commissioners court or governing body of a municipality entitled to the notice to submit a written statement to the entity concerning the proposed construction or operation of the correctional or rehabilitation facility; and

(2) provide to the commissioners court or governing body of a municipality holding a public hearing under Section 244.004(a), not later than the third day before the date of the hearing, any written statement submitted to the entity under Subdivision (1).

SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 244, Local Government Code, is amended by adding Section 244.0021 to read as follows:

Sec. 244.0021. NOTICE OF CHANGE OF USE OR CAPACITY OF CERTAIN FACILITIES OPERATED BY PRIVATE VENDOR. (a) This section applies only to a private vendor that:

(1) proposes to change the use or significantly increase the capacity of a correctional or rehabilitation facility operated by the private vendor; and

(2) does not operate the correctional or rehabilitation facility under a contract with an agency of the state or a political subdivision of the state.

(b) A private vendor that proposes to change the use or significantly increase the capacity of a correctional or rehabilitation facility within 1,000 feet of a residential area, a primary or secondary school, property designated as a public park or public recreation area by the state or a political subdivision of the state, or a church, synagogue, or other place of worship shall give notice of and accept and process written statements regarding the proposed change in use or capacity in the manner provided by Section 244.002.

SECTION 6. Section 244.003(a), Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Unless local consent is denied under Section 244.004, an agency of the state, a political subdivision of the state, or a private vendor [operating under a contract with an agency or political subdivision of the state] may operate or change the use or capacity of a correctional or rehabilitation facility within 1,000 feet of a residential area, a primary or secondary school, property designated as a public park or public recreation area by the state or a political subdivision of the state, or a church, synagogue, or other place of worship.

SECTION 7. Section 244.004(a), Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Local consent to the operation or change in use or significant increase in the capacity of a correctional or rehabilitation facility at a location within 1,000 feet of a residential area, a primary or secondary school, property designated as a park or public recreation area by the state or a political subdivision of the state, or a church, synagogue, or other place of worship is granted unless, not later than the 60th day after the date on which notice is received by a commissioners court or governing body of a municipality under Section 244.002(a) or 244.0021(b), the commissioners court or governing body, as appropriate, determines by resolution after a public hearing that the operation of a correctional or rehabilitation facility at the proposed location or the change in use or significant increase in the capacity of an existing facility is not in the best interest of the county or municipality, as appropriate.

SECTION 8. Section 244.006, Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 244.006. EXEMPTIONS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), this [This] subchapter does not apply to the operation of a correctional or rehabilitation facility at a location subject to this subchapter if:

(1) on September 1, 1997, the correctional or rehabilitation facility was in operation, under construction, under contract for operation or construction, or planned for construction at the location on land owned or leased by an agency or political subdivision of the state and designated for use as a correctional or rehabilitation facility;

(2) the correctional or rehabilitation facility was in operation or under construction before the establishment of a residential area the location of which makes the facility subject to this subchapter;

(3) the correctional or rehabilitation facility is a temporary correctional or rehabilitation facility that will be operated at the location for less than one year;

(4) the correctional or rehabilitation facility is required to obtain a special use permit or a conditional use permit from the municipality in which the facility is located before beginning operation;

(5) the correctional or rehabilitation facility is an expansion of a facility operated by the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or by the Texas Youth Commission;

(6) the correctional or rehabilitation facility is a county jail or a pre-adjudication or post-adjudication juvenile detention facility operated by a county or county juvenile board;

(7) the facility is:

(A) a juvenile probation office located at, and operated in conjunction with, a juvenile justice alternative education center; and

(B) used exclusively by students attending the juvenile justice alternative education center;

(8) the facility is a public or private institution of higher education or vocational training to which admission is open to the general public;

(9) the facility is operated primarily as a treatment facility for juveniles under contract with the [Texas] Department of Aging and Disability Services [Mental Health and Mental Retardation] or a local mental health or mental retardation authority;

(10) the facility is operated as a juvenile justice alternative education program;

(11) the facility:

(A) is not operated primarily as a correctional or rehabilitation facility; and

(B) only houses persons or children described by Section 244.001(1)(B) for a purpose related to treatment or education; or

(12) the facility is a probation or parole office located in a commercial use area.

(b) Subsections (a)(3) and (a)(4) do not apply to a correctional or rehabilitation facility that is operated by, or the use or capacity of which is changed by, a private vendor that is not operating the facility under a contract with an agency of the state or a political subdivision of the state.

SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.