| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to individual treatment plans for inmates. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 508.144(a), Government Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) The board shall: |
|
|
(1) develop according to an acceptable research method |
|
|
the parole guidelines that are the basic criteria on which a parole |
|
|
decision is made; |
|
|
(2) base the guidelines on the seriousness of the |
|
|
offense and the likelihood of a favorable parole outcome; |
|
|
(3) ensure that the guidelines require consideration |
|
|
of an inmate's progress on the inmate's individual treatment plan |
|
|
and in any other programs in which the inmate participated during |
|
|
the inmate's term of confinement; |
|
|
(4) establish and maintain a range of recommended |
|
|
parole approval rates for each category or score within the |
|
|
guidelines; and |
|
|
(5) implement the guidelines. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 508.152, Government Code, is amended by |
|
|
amending Subsections (b), (b-2), (c), and (e) and adding Subsection |
|
|
(g) to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) The department shall: |
|
|
(1) not later than the 45th day after the date an |
|
|
inmate is admitted to the institutional division, establish for the |
|
|
inmate an individual treatment plan and provide the plan to the |
|
|
inmate; and |
|
|
(2) submit the plan to the board at the time of the |
|
|
board's consideration of the inmate's case for release. |
|
|
(b-2) At least once in every 12-month period, the department |
|
|
shall review each inmate's individual treatment plan to assess the |
|
|
inmate's institutional progress and revise or update the plan as |
|
|
necessary. The department shall make reasonable efforts to provide |
|
|
an inmate the opportunity to complete any classes or programs |
|
|
included in the inmate's individual treatment plan[, other than |
|
|
classes or programs that are to be completed immediately] before |
|
|
the inmate's [release on] parole eligibility date[, in a timely |
|
|
manner] so that the inmate's release on parole is not delayed due to |
|
|
any uncompleted classes or programs. |
|
|
(c) The board shall conduct an initial review of an eligible |
|
|
inmate not later than the 180th day after the date of the inmate's |
|
|
admission to the institutional division. The board shall identify |
|
|
any classes or programs that the board intends to require the inmate |
|
|
to complete before the inmate's parole eligibility date [releasing |
|
|
the inmate on parole]. The department shall provide the inmate with |
|
|
a list of those classes or programs and make those classes available |
|
|
to the inmate before the inmate's parole eligibility date. |
|
|
(e) The institutional division shall: |
|
|
(1) work closely with the board to monitor the |
|
|
progress of the inmate in the institutional division; [and] |
|
|
(2) report the progress to the board before the |
|
|
inmate's release; and |
|
|
(3) revise the inmate's risk level to reflect the |
|
|
inmate's completion of programming as required by the inmate's |
|
|
individual treatment plan. |
|
|
(g) The department shall provide to the board a record of |
|
|
the inmate's progress toward completion of the inmate's individual |
|
|
treatment plan. |
|
|
SECTION 3. As soon as practicable after the effective date |
|
|
of this Act, the Board of Pardons and Paroles shall modify the |
|
|
parole guidelines to be in conformity with Section 508.144(a), |
|
|
Government Code, as amended by this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |