82R10819 PEP-F

By: Thompson H.B. No. 3538

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the release of certain inmates on medically recommended intensive supervision or on super-intensive supervision parole.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 508, Government Code, is amended by adding Sections 508.1451 and 508.1459 to read as follows:

Sec. 508.1451. MANDATORY RELEASE OF CERTAIN ELDERLY INMATES. (a) For purposes of this section, "elderly inmate" means an inmate who is 55 years of age or older.

(b)(1) Not later than an elderly inmate's initial parole eligibility date computed under Section 508.145, a parole panel shall order the release of the inmate on super-intensive supervision parole under Section 508.317.

(2) This subsection does not apply to an elderly inmate who is:

(A) serving a sentence for an offense described by Section 508.145(a);

(B) serving a sentence for an offense described by Section 3g(a), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure;

(C) serving a sentence for an offense under Section 21.12, Penal Code; or

(D) described by Subsection (c).

(c) A parole panel may not release an otherwise eligible elderly inmate under this section if the inmate is the subject of major disciplinary action within the 60-day period preceding the inmate's scheduled release date.

(d) The board shall adopt a policy establishing the date on which a parole panel may reconsider for release an elderly inmate who has previously been denied release under Subsection (c). The policy must require the parole panel to at least annually reconsider the elderly inmate for release as soon as practicable after each anniversary of the date of denial.

Sec. 508.1459. MANDATORY RELEASE OF CERTAIN INMATES ON MEDICALLY RECOMMENDED INTENSIVE SUPERVISION. (a) A parole panel shall release on medically recommended intensive supervision any inmate other than an inmate who is serving a sentence of death or life without parole, regardless of the inmate's initial parole eligibility date computed under Section 508.145, if on the basis of a medical examination approved by at least two physicians the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments identifies the inmate as:

(1) being terminally ill;

(2) having a condition requiring long-term care;

(3) being in a persistent vegetative state; or

(4) having an organic brain syndrome with significant to total mobility impairment.

(b) Before releasing an inmate under Subsection (a), the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the department, shall prepare for the inmate a medically recommended supervision plan that requires the inmate to submit to electronic monitoring, places the inmate on super-intensive supervision, or otherwise ensures appropriate supervision of the inmate.

(c) A parole panel releasing an inmate under Subsection (a) shall require as a condition of release that the releasee remain under the care of a physician and in a medically suitable placement. At least once each calendar quarter, the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments shall report to the parole panel on the releasee's medical and placement status. On the basis of the report, the parole panel may modify conditions of release and impose any condition on the releasee that the panel could impose on a releasee released under Section 508.145.

SECTION 2. The heading to Section 508.146, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 508.146. DISCRETIONARY RELEASE OF CERTAIN INMATES ON MEDICALLY RECOMMENDED INTENSIVE SUPERVISION.

SECTION 3. Sections 508.146(a), (b), and (e), Government Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) An inmate other than an inmate who is serving a sentence of death or life without parole may be released on medically recommended intensive supervision on a date designated by a parole panel described by Subsection (e)[, except that an inmate with an instant offense that is an offense described in Section 3g, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or an inmate who has a reportable conviction or adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, may only be considered if a medical condition of terminal illness or long-term care has been diagnosed by a physician,] if:

(1) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee, identifies the inmate as [being]:

(A) being 55 years of age or older;

(B) having a physical disability; or

(C) being a person with a mental illness or mental retardation [elderly, physically disabled, mentally ill, terminally ill, or mentally retarded or having a condition requiring long-term care, if the inmate is an inmate with an instant offense that is described in Section 3g, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure; or

[(B) in a persistent vegetative state or being a person with an organic brain syndrome with significant to total mobility impairment, if the inmate is an inmate who has a reportable conviction or adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure];

(2) the suitability of the inmate for release on medically recommended intensive supervision, based on a medical examination of the inmate, has been approved by a panel of at least two physicians;

(3) the parole panel determines that, based on the inmate's condition and a medical evaluation, the inmate does not constitute a threat to public safety; and

(4) [(3)] the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the department [pardons and paroles division], has prepared for the inmate a medically recommended intensive supervision plan that requires the inmate to submit to electronic monitoring, places the inmate on super-intensive supervision, or otherwise ensures appropriate supervision of the inmate.

(b) An inmate may be released on medically recommended intensive supervision only if the inmate's medically recommended intensive supervision plan under Subsection (a)(4) [(a)(3)] is approved by the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments.

(e) Only parole panels composed of the presiding officer of the board and two members appointed to the panel by the presiding officer may make determinations regarding the release of inmates on medically recommended intensive supervision under Subsection (a) or of inmates released pending deportation. If the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental Impairments identifies an inmate as a candidate for release under the guidelines established by Subsection (a) [(a)(1)], the council shall present to a parole panel described by this subsection relevant information concerning the inmate and the inmate's potential for release under this section.

SECTION 4. Not later than January 1, 2012, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall release on supervision:

(1) any elderly inmate eligible for release under Section 508.1451, Government Code, as added by this Act, with respect to whom a parole panel has not denied release on parole under that section; and

(2) any inmate identified for release under Section 508.1459, Government Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 5. Section 508.146, Government Code, as amended by this Act, applies to the release of an inmate under that section on or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of when the offense for which the inmate is serving a sentence was committed.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.