Honorable Tan Parker, Chair, House Committee on Corrections
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3533 by Rose (Relating to notifying the next of kin of a person confined in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice of a change in the person's eligibility to receive visitors.), As Introduced
The bill is expected to result in significant information technology costs to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; however, the actual costs are indeterminate at this time.
The bill would amend the Government Code to require the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to establish a uniform visitation policy which requires TDCJ to notify an inmate's next of kin of any change in the inmate's eligibility to receive visitors. The requirement pertains to inmates in TDCJ's correctional institutions and state jail facilities that have provided certain family contact information to TDCJ. TDCJ indicates in the short-term the agency would use existing resources to meet the requirements of the bill, but that for the long-term and in order to mitigate the impact on agency staff, TDCJ would need to pursue an automated information technology solution to meet the bill's requirements. TDCJ indicates the information technology costs necessary to meet the bill's requirements are expected to be significant, but are indeterminate at this time until specific programming requirements could be identified and, if necessary, the results of a procurement process determined. The bill would take effect on September 1, 2013.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.