By: Crockett H.B. No. 204
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to determining the residence of incarcerated persons.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 16.21, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Art. 16.21.  DUTY OF SHERIFF AS TO PRISONERS. (a) Every
  sheriff shall keep safely a person committed to the sheriff's [his]
  custody. The sheriff [He] shall use no cruel or unusual means to
  secure this end, but shall adopt all necessary measures to prevent
  the escape of a prisoner. The sheriff [He] may summon a guard of
  sufficient number, in case it becomes necessary to prevent an
  escape from jail, or the rescue of a prisoner.
         (b)  A sheriff shall take all practical measures to obtain
  and record the following information from a person committed to the
  sheriff's custody:
               (1)  the age, gender, and race of each person and
  whether the person is of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin, if
  known; and
               (2)  the current address or location at which the
  person resides.
         (c)  If a sheriff is unable to obtain the information
  described by Subsection (b), the sheriff shall make a record of that
  fact.
         (d)  Information described by Subsections (b) and (c) is
  confidential and not subject to required disclosure under Chapter
  552, Government Code.
         SECTION 2.  Section 1.015(e), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (e)  A person [who is an inmate in a penal institution or] who
  is an involuntary inmate in a health care, detention, [hospital] or
  eleemosynary institution, including a hospital, rehabilitation
  center, substance abuse treatment center, psychiatric facility,
  prison, jail, or detention center, does not, solely because the
  person is [while] an inmate, acquire residence at the place where
  the institution is located. Notwithstanding any other law, a
  person described by this subsection retains residency at the
  location of the person's residence before becoming an inmate and
  may register to vote or remain registered to vote at that location
  if the person is otherwise eligible to vote in the jurisdiction of
  the person's residence. A person who is an inmate and who does not
  have a residence outside of the institution at which the person is
  held may, notwithstanding any other law, register to vote at the
  institution provided that the person is otherwise eligible to vote
  in the jurisdiction in which the institution is located. A person
  who registers to vote at an institution in the manner provided by
  this subsection loses residence at that institution once the person
  is released from the institution and acquires a new residence.
         SECTION 3.  Section 2058.002, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 2058.002.  EXCEPTIONS. (a) The legislature or the
  Legislative Redistricting Board under Article III, Section 28, of
  the Texas Constitution may officially recognize or act on a federal
  decennial census as adjusted under Section 2058.003 before
  September 1 of the year after the calendar year during which the
  census was taken.
         (b)  A political subdivision governed by a body elected from
  single-member districts may recognize and act on tabulations of
  population of a federal decennial census as adjusted under Section
  2058.003, for redistricting purposes, as soon as those adjusted
  tabulations become available [on or after the date the governor
  receives a report of the basic tabulations of population from the
  secretary of commerce under 13 U.S.C. Section 141(c)]. This
  subsection does not apply to a political subdivision that was not
  subject to a statute requiring certain political subdivisions,
  classified by population, to elect their governing bodies from
  single-member districts under the preceding federal census.
         SECTION 4.  Chapter 2058, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Sections 2058.003 and 2058.004 to read as follows:
         Sec. 2058.003.  INCLUSION OF INCARCERATED PERSONS IN CENSUS
  COUNTS. (a) Not later than the 14th day following the date on which
  the tract-level population counts for this state from the federal
  decennial census are released by the director of the Bureau of the
  Census of the United States Department of Commerce, the
  comptroller, in coordination with the Texas Demographic Center, the
  Texas Legislative Council, and the Texas Department of Criminal
  Justice, shall prepare and disseminate adjusted population counts
  for each geographic unit included in the census counts as provided
  by this section.
         (b)  Not later than June 1 of the year in which the federal
  decennial census is conducted, each state or local governmental
  entity in this state that operates a facility for the incarceration
  of persons convicted of a criminal offense, including a mental
  health institution for those persons, or that places any person
  convicted of a criminal offense in a private facility to be
  incarcerated on behalf of the governmental entity, shall submit a
  report to the comptroller with the following information:
               (1)  a unique identifier, not including the name, for
  each person incarcerated in a facility operated by the governmental
  entity or in a private facility on behalf of the governmental entity
  on the date for which the census reports population who completed a
  census form, responded to a census inquiry, or was included in any
  report provided to census officials, if the form, response, or
  report indicated that the person resided at the facility on that
  date;
               (2)  the age, gender, and race of each person included
  in the report and whether the person is of Hispanic, Latino, or
  Spanish origin, if known; and
               (3)  the last address at which the person resided
  before the person's current incarceration.
         (c)  Each governmental entity required to make a report under
  Subsection (b) shall ensure that the entity collects and maintains
  the information required to make the report. The comptroller, in
  coordination with the correctional institutions division of the
  Texas Department of Criminal Justice, shall prescribe procedures
  that a governmental entity shall use to permit each person included
  in the report to indicate the person's race and ethnicity for
  purposes of Subsection (b)(2) in a manner similar to the manner in
  which a person not incarcerated would indicate the person's race
  and ethnicity for the federal decennial census.
         (d)  The comptroller shall request each agency that operates
  a federal facility in this state that incarcerates persons
  convicted of a criminal offense to provide the comptroller with a
  report including the information listed in Subsection (b) for
  persons convicted of an offense in this state.
         (e)  For each person included in a report received under
  Subsection (b) or (d), the comptroller, in coordination with the
  Texas Demographic Center, the Texas Legislative Council, and the
  Texas Department of Criminal Justice, shall determine the
  geographic units for which population counts are reported in the
  federal decennial census that contain the last address at which the
  person resided before the person's incarceration according to the
  report and, if that address is in this state:
               (1)  adjust all relevant population counts reported in
  the census, including populations by age, gender, race, and
  Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin, as if the person resided at
  that address on the day for which the census reports population; and
               (2)  eliminate the person from all applicable
  population counts reported in the federal decennial census for the
  geographic units that include the facility at which the person was
  incarcerated on the day for which the census reports population.
         (f)  The information required to be included in a report
  under Subsection (b) or (d) is confidential and not subject to
  required disclosure under Chapter 552. This subsection does not
  apply to information aggregated by geographic census unit that does
  not disclose the address of or other information that might
  identify an individual.
         Sec. 2058.004.  USE OF ADJUSTED CENSUS COUNTS FOR
  REDISTRICTING. (a) Each state and local governmental entity,
  including any board or commission, that is responsible for drawing
  districts for any elected office in this state on the basis of
  population, including any federal, state, or local elected office,
  shall use the adjusted population counts prepared by the
  comptroller under Section 2058.003 to determine the population of
  geographic units.
         (b)  Each political subdivision of this state that elects any
  members of a governmental body from election districts, wards, or
  precincts that are subject to the one-person, one-vote requirement
  of the Constitution of the United States shall ensure that after
  redistricting each of those election districts, wards, or precincts
  does not vary from the average population of those districts,
  wards, or precincts according to the most recent adjusted
  population counts prepared by the comptroller under Section
  2058.003 by more than five percent.
         (c)  A state governmental body, including the legislature,
  the Legislative Redistricting Board, or any state court, that
  redistricts any election districts subject to the one-person,
  one-vote requirement of the Constitution of the United States shall
  comply with the restriction provided by Subsection (b).
         (d)  To the extent of any conflict between Subsection (b) or
  (c) and another state or federal law requiring a deviation of less
  than five percent for an election district, the other law controls.
         (e)  A governmental entity to which this section applies may
  exceed the adjusted population restrictions required by this
  section only to the extent necessary to comply with federal law or
  the Texas Constitution.
         (f)  This section does not apply to any political subdivision
  or state governmental body before the comptroller makes the initial
  adjustment of census counts under Section 2058.003.
         SECTION 5.  Section 151.317, Tax Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
  follows:
         (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (c-1), in [In] this
  section, "residential use" means use:
               (1)  in a family dwelling or in a multifamily apartment
  or housing complex or building or in a part of a building occupied
  as a home or residence when the use is by the owner of the dwelling,
  apartment, complex, or building or part of the building occupied;
  or
               (2)  in a dwelling, apartment, house, or building or
  part of a building occupied as a home or residence when the use is by
  a tenant who occupies the dwelling, apartment, house, or building
  or part of a building under a contract for an express initial term
  for longer than 29 consecutive days.
         (c-1)  The term "residential use" does not include use in a
  health care or detention facility, including a hospital,
  rehabilitation center, substance abuse treatment center,
  psychiatric facility, prison, jail, or other detention center, or
  use by the owner or operator of the health care or detention
  facility.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect January 1, 2022.