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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to providing free access to telephone services for persons |
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confined in county jail pending trial. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 351, Local Government |
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Code, is amended by adding Section 351.0135 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 351.0135. ACCESS TO TELEPHONE SERVICES FOR PERSONS |
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CONFINED PENDING TRIAL. (a) A county jail must provide each |
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arrested person who is confined in the county jail pending trial |
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with access to domestic telephone services at no cost to the person |
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or the party receiving the telephone call. |
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(b) The sheriff of each county jail shall adopt a policy |
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governing the use of telephone services under this section. The |
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policy may not unduly restrict calling patterns or volume and must |
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allow for an average monthly call usage rate of eight calls, with |
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each call having an average duration of not less than 10 minutes, |
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per arrested person. |
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SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2019, the sheriff of |
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each county jail shall adopt the policy required by Section |
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351.0135, Local Government Code, as added by this Act. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |