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SECTION 1. Section
511.009(a), Government Code, as amended by Chapters 281 (H.B. 875), 648
(H.B. 549), and 688 (H.B. 634), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2015, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall:
(1) adopt reasonable rules
and procedures establishing minimum standards for the construction,
equipment, maintenance, and operation of county jails;
(2) adopt reasonable rules
and procedures establishing minimum standards for the custody, care, and
treatment of prisoners;
(3) adopt reasonable rules
establishing minimum standards for the number of jail supervisory personnel
and for programs and services to meet the needs of prisoners;
(4) adopt reasonable rules
and procedures establishing minimum requirements for programs of
rehabilitation, education, and recreation in county jails;
(5) revise, amend, or change
rules and procedures if necessary;
(6) provide to local
government officials consultation on and technical assistance for county jails;
(7) review and comment on
plans for the construction and major modification or renovation of county
jails;
(8) require that the sheriff
and commissioners of each county submit to the commission, on a form
prescribed by the commission, an annual report on the conditions in each
county jail within their jurisdiction, including all information necessary
to determine compliance with state law, commission orders, and the rules
adopted under this chapter;
(9) review the reports
submitted under Subdivision (8) and require commission employees to inspect
county jails regularly to ensure compliance with state law, commission
orders, and rules and procedures adopted under this chapter;
(10) adopt a classification
system to assist sheriffs and judges in determining which defendants are
low-risk and consequently suitable participants in a county jail work
release program under Article 42.034, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(11) adopt rules relating to
requirements for segregation of classes of inmates and to capacities for
county jails;
(12) require that the chief
jailer of each municipal lockup submit to the commission, on a form
prescribed by the commission, an annual report of persons under 17 years of
age securely detained in the lockup, including all information necessary to
determine compliance with state law concerning secure confinement of
children in municipal lockups;
(13) at least annually
determine whether each county jail is in compliance with the rules and
procedures adopted under this chapter;
(14) require that the
sheriff and commissioners court of each county submit to the commission, on
a form prescribed by the commission, an annual report of persons under 17
years of age securely detained in the county jail, including all
information necessary to determine compliance with state law concerning
secure confinement of children in county jails;
(15) schedule announced and
unannounced inspections of jails under the commission's jurisdiction using
the risk assessment plan established under Section 511.0085 to guide the
inspections process;
(16) adopt a policy for
gathering and distributing to jails under the commission's jurisdiction
information regarding:
(A) common issues concerning
jail administration;
(B) examples of successful
strategies for maintaining compliance with state law and the rules,
standards, and procedures of the commission; and
(C) solutions to operational
challenges for jails;
(17) report to the Texas
Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments on a jail's
compliance with Article 16.22, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(18) adopt reasonable rules
and procedures establishing minimum requirements for jails to:
(A) determine if a prisoner
is pregnant; and
(B) ensure that the jail's
health services plan addresses medical and mental health care, including
nutritional requirements, and any special housing or work assignment needs
for persons who are confined in the jail and are known or determined to be
pregnant;
(19) provide guidelines to
sheriffs regarding contracts between a sheriff and another entity for the
provision of food services to or the operation of a commissary in a jail
under the commission's jurisdiction, including specific provisions
regarding conflicts of interest and avoiding the appearance of impropriety;
[and]
(20) adopt reasonable rules
and procedures establishing minimum standards for prisoner visitation that
provide each prisoner at a county jail with a minimum of two in-person,
noncontact visitation periods per week of at least 20 minutes duration each;
(21) [(20)]
require the sheriff of each county to:
(A) investigate and verify
the veteran status of each prisoner by using data made available from the
Veterans Reentry Search Service (VRSS) operated by the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs or a similar service; and
(B) use the data described
by Paragraph (A) to assist prisoners who are veterans in applying for
federal benefits or compensation for which the prisoners may be eligible
under a program administered by the United States Department of Veterans
Affairs;
(22) [(20)]
adopt reasonable rules and procedures regarding visitation of a prisoner at
a county jail by a guardian, as defined by Section 1002.012, Estates Code,
that:
(A) allow visitation by a
guardian to the same extent as the prisoner's next of kin, including
placing the guardian on the prisoner's approved visitors list on the
guardian's request and providing the guardian access to the prisoner during
a facility's standard visitation hours if the prisoner is otherwise
eligible to receive visitors; and
(B) require the guardian to
provide the sheriff with letters of guardianship issued as provided by
Section 1106.001, Estates Code, before being allowed to visit the prisoner;
and
(23) adopt reasonable
rules and procedures to ensure the safety of prisoners, including rules and
procedures that require a county jail to have the ability to access a
mental health professional on site or through a telemental health service
24 hours a day.
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