83R10652 MEW-F
 
  By: Davis of Dallas H.B. No. 2598
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to AIDS, HIV, and hepatitis education and testing for
  inmates, state jail defendants, and employees of the Texas
  Department of Criminal Justice.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 501.054, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 501.054.  AIDS, [AND] HIV, AND HEPATITIS EDUCATION;
  TESTING. (a) In this section:
               (1)  [,] "AIDS[,]" and "HIV[,]" [and "test result"]
  have the meanings assigned by Section 81.101, Health and Safety
  Code.
               (2)  "Test result" means any statement that indicates
  that an individual has or has not been tested for a particular
  disease or condition.  The term includes a test result described by
  Section 81.101, Health and Safety Code.
         (b)  The department, in consultation with the [Texas]
  Department of State Health Services, shall establish education
  programs to educate inmates and employees of the department about
  AIDS, [and] HIV, and hepatitis. In establishing the programs for
  inmates, the department shall design a program that deals with
  issues related to AIDS, [and] HIV, and hepatitis that are relevant
  to inmates while confined and a program that deals with issues
  related to AIDS, [and] HIV, and hepatitis that will be relevant to
  inmates after the inmates are released. The department shall design
  the programs to take into account relevant cultural and other
  differences among inmates. The department shall require each
  inmate in a facility operated by the department to participate in
  education programs established under this subsection.
         (c)  The department shall require each employee of the
  department to participate in programs established under this
  section at least once during each calendar year.
         (d)  The department shall ensure that education programs for
  employees include information and training relating to infection
  control procedures. The department shall also ensure that
  employees have infection control supplies and equipment readily
  available.
         (e)  The department, in consultation with the [Texas]
  Department of State Health Services, shall periodically revise
  education programs established under this section so that the
  programs reflect the latest medical information available on AIDS,
  [and] HIV, and hepatitis.
         (f)  The department shall adopt a policy for handling persons
  who have [with] AIDS or hepatitis or are infected with HIV and
  [infection who] are in the custody of the department or under the
  department's supervision. The policy for handling persons who have
  AIDS or are infected with HIV must be substantially similar to a
  model policy developed [by the Texas Department of Health] under
  Subchapter G, Chapter 85, Health and Safety Code.
         (g)  The department shall maintain the confidentiality of
  test results of an inmate indicating the presence of AIDS,
  hepatitis, or HIV infection at all times, including after the
  inmate's discharge, release from a state jail, or release on parole
  or mandatory supervision.  The department may not honor the request
  of an agency of the state or any person who requests a test result as
  a condition of housing or supervising the inmate while the inmate is
  on community supervision or parole or mandatory supervision, unless
  honoring the request would improve the ability of the inmate to
  obtain essential health and social services.
         (h)  The department shall report to the legislature not later
  than January 15 of each odd-numbered year concerning the
  implementation of this section and the participation of inmates and
  employees of the department in education programs established under
  this section.
         (i)  The department may test an inmate confined in a facility
  operated by the correctional institutions division for AIDS,
  hepatitis, or HIV infection [human immunodeficiency virus] at any
  time, but must test:
               (1)  during the diagnostic process, an inmate for whom
  the department does not have a record of a positive test result; and
               (2)  an inmate who is eligible for release before the
  inmate is released from the division.
         (j)  If the department determines that an inmate has a
  positive test result, the department may segregate the inmate from
  other inmates.  The department shall report the results of a
  positive test to the Department of State Health Services for the
  purposes of notification and reporting as described by Sections
  81.050-81.052, Health and Safety Code.
         SECTION 2.  Section 507.023, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 507.023.  AIDS, [AND] HIV, AND HEPATITIS EDUCATION;
  TESTING. (a) The department [state jail division] shall establish
  and provide education programs to educate [state jail division]
  employees at and defendants in state jail felony facilities about
  AIDS, [and] HIV, and hepatitis in the same manner as the department
  [institutional division] establishes and provides programs for
  employees and inmates under Section 501.054.
         (b)  The department [state jail division] shall adopt a
  policy for handling a defendant with AIDS, [or] HIV, or hepatitis
  and shall test a defendant for AIDS, hepatitis, or HIV infection in
  the same manner and subject to the same conditions as apply to an
  inmate [the institutional division] under Section 501.054.
         (c)  In this section, "AIDS" and "HIV" have the meanings
  assigned by Section 81.101, Health and Safety Code.
         SECTION 3.  The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
  establish the programs, adopt the policies, and initiate the
  testing procedures required by Sections 501.054 and 507.023,
  Government Code, as amended by this Act, not later than January 1,
  2014.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.