82R9964 MAW-F

By: Turner H.B. No. 2143

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the conditions of community service of certain offenders and the reentry and reintegration of offenders released or discharged from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

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

SECTION 1. Section 11, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (m) to read as follows:

(m) If the judge places a defendant on community supervision, the judge shall require the defendant to provide to the judge a copy of the defendant's driver's license or personal identification card issued by this state, another state, or the federal government. If the judge determines that the defendant does not possess a valid driver's license or identification card, the judge shall require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant obtain, not later than the 30th day after the date the judge places the defendant on community supervision, a driver's license or identification card. The judge may require a community supervision and corrections department or other officer supervising the defendant to assist the defendant in obtaining a driver's license or identification card.

SECTION 2. Section 495.028, Government Code, as added by Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted to read as follows:

Sec. 495.028. IMPLEMENTATION OF REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION PLAN. (a) The department may contract and coordinate with private vendors, units of local government, or other entities to implement the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan developed under Section 501.092, including contracting to:

(1) coordinate the supervision and services provided to offenders in correctional facilities with any supervision or services provided to offenders who have been released or discharged from the correctional facility;

(2) provide offenders awaiting release or discharge with documents that are necessary after release or discharge, including identification papers, medical prescriptions, job training certificates, and referrals to services; and

(3) provide housing and structured programs, including group homes for recovering substance abusers, through which offenders are provided services immediately following release or discharge.

(b) To ensure accountability, any contract entered into under this section must contain specific performance measures that the department shall use to evaluate compliance with the terms of the contract.

SECTION 3. Section 501.091, Government Code, as added by Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted to read as follows:

Sec. 501.091. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Correctional facility" means a facility operated by or under contract with the department.

(2) "Offender" means an inmate or state jail defendant confined in a correctional facility.

SECTION 4. Section 501.092, Government Code, as added by Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted to read as follows:

Sec. 501.092. COMPREHENSIVE REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION PLAN FOR OFFENDERS. (a) The department shall develop a comprehensive plan to reduce recidivism and ensure the successful reentry and reintegration of offenders into the community following an offender's release or discharge from a correctional facility.

(b) The reentry and reintegration plan developed under this section must provide for:

(1) an assessment of offenders entering a correctional facility to determine which skills the offender needs to develop to be successful in the community following release or discharge;

(2) programs that address the assessed needs of offenders;

(3) a comprehensive network of transition programs to address the needs of offenders released or discharged from a correctional facility;

(4) the identification of providers of existing local programs and transitional services with whom the department may contract under Section 495.028 to implement the reentry and reintegration plan; and

(5) subject to Subsection (c), the sharing of information between local coordinators, persons with whom the department contracts under Section 495.028, and other providers of services as necessary to adequately assess and address the needs of each offender.

(c) An offender's personal health information may be disclosed under Subsection (b)(5) only if:

(1) the offender consents to the disclosure; and

(2) the disclosure does not violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-191) or other state or federal law.

(d) The programs provided under Subsections (b)(2) and (3) must:

(1) be implemented by highly skilled staff who are experienced in working with inmate reentry and reintegration programs;

(2) provide offenders with:

(A) individualized case management and a full continuum of care;

(B) life-skills training, including information about budgeting, money management, nutrition, and exercise;

(C) education and, if an offender has a learning disability, special education;

(D) employment training;

(E) appropriate treatment programs, including substance abuse and mental health treatment programs; and

(F) parenting and relationship building classes; and

(3) be designed to build for former offenders post-release and post-discharge support from the community into which an offender is released or discharged, including support from agencies and organizations within that community.

(e) In developing the reentry and reintegration plan under this section, the department shall ensure that the reentry program for long-term inmates under Section 501.096 and the reintegration services provided under Section 501.097 are incorporated into the plan.

SECTION 5. Section 501.098, Government Code, as added by Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

Sec. 501.098. REENTRY TASK FORCE. (a) The department shall coordinate the work of the task force with the Office of Court Administration, and by rule shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the following entities to establish a reentry task force:

(1) the Texas Veterans [Youth] Commission;

(2) the Texas Workforce Commission;

(3) the Department of Public Safety;

(4) the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs;

(5) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments;

(6) the Health and Human Services Commission;

(7) the Judicial Advisory Council to the community justice assistance division and the board [Texas Judicial Council]; [and]

(8) a faith-based organization selected by the department; and

(9) other organizations, agencies, or individuals [an organization] selected by the department that advocate [advocates] for or have significant interest in the successful [provides] reentry and [or] reintegration of [services to] offenders following their release or discharge from a correctional facility.

(b) The reentry task force established under Subsection (a) may:

(1) identify applicable laws, ordinances, policies, rules, or regulations of the federal government, this state, or a political subdivision of this state that affect an offender's successful reentry and reintegration [gaps in services for offenders] following the offender's [their] release or discharge, including laws, ordinances, policies, rules, or regulations relating to an offender's access to or ability to obtain, in [to] rural or urban communities, [in the areas of] employment, housing, substance abuse treatment, medical care, government issued identification documents, and any other [areas in which the offenders need] special services; [and]

(2) coordinate with providers of existing local reentry and reintegration programs, including programs operated by a municipality or county, to make recommendations regarding the provision of comprehensive services to offenders following their release or discharge to rural or urban communities; and

(3) evaluate efforts by the department, county jails, community supervision and corrections departments, and the courts of this state to assist offenders in obtaining government issued identification.

SECTION 6. Section 501.100, Government Code, as added by Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

Sec. 501.100. RECIDIVISM STUDY; REPORT. (a) The department shall conduct and coordinate research to determine whether the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan developed under Section 501.092 reduces [and the policies adopted under Section 501.099 to encourage family unity and participation reduce] recidivism rates.

(b) Not later than September 1 of each even-numbered year, the department shall deliver a report of the activities of the reentry task force established under Section 501.098 and the results of research conducted or coordinated under Subsection (a) to the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the standing committees of each house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over criminal justice and corrections.

SECTION 7. Section 501.099, Government Code, as added by Chapter 643 (H.B. 1711), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is repealed.

SECTION 8. The change in law made by Section 11(m), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, applies to a person placed on community supervision on or after the effective date of this Act regardless of when the person committed the offense for which the person is placed on community supervision.

SECTION 9. Not later than January 1, 2012, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall:

(1) enter into memorandums of understanding and establish the reentry task force as provided by Section 501.098, Government Code, as reenacted and amended by this Act; and

(2) develop and implement the comprehensive reentry and reintegration plan for offenders as required by Section 501.092, Government Code, as reenacted by this Act.

SECTION 10. 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, 2011.