| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to veterans placed on community supervision or confined in |
|
|
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 501.024(b), Government Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) The department shall: |
|
|
(1) in consultation with the Texas Veterans |
|
|
Commission, investigate and verify the veteran status of each |
|
|
inmate by using the best available federal data; and |
|
|
(2) use the data described by Subdivision (1) to |
|
|
assist inmates who are veterans in applying for: |
|
|
(A) federal benefits or compensation for which |
|
|
the inmates may be eligible under a program administered by the |
|
|
United States Department of Veterans Affairs; and |
|
|
(B) state benefits or compensation for which the |
|
|
inmates may be eligible under any state law or program. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 501, Government Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 501.1021 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 501.1021. REENTRY AND REINTEGRATION SERVICES FOR |
|
|
VETERANS. (a) The department shall develop a comprehensive plan to |
|
|
ensure the successful reentry and reintegration into the community |
|
|
following discharge from the department of offenders whose veteran |
|
|
status has been verified by the department under Section |
|
|
501.024(b)(1). The reentry and reintegration plan developed under |
|
|
this section must utilize all benefits that the offender is |
|
|
eligible for as determined by the department under Section |
|
|
501.024(b)(2) to provide for the following, as applicable, after |
|
|
the offender's discharge: |
|
|
(1) housing; |
|
|
(2) employment; |
|
|
(3) education; |
|
|
(4) financial support for the offender's family; and |
|
|
(5) medical or mental health care. |
|
|
(b) The department may contract with private vendors or |
|
|
other entities to implement the comprehensive reentry and |
|
|
reintegration plan as required by this section. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Chapter 509, Government Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Section 509.0042 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 509.0042. VETERANS BENEFITS PLAN. The division shall |
|
|
require each department to develop and implement a comprehensive |
|
|
plan to: |
|
|
(1) determine if a defendant placed on community |
|
|
supervision is a veteran; and |
|
|
(2) assist the defendant in obtaining any federal or |
|
|
state veterans benefits for which the defendant is eligible to |
|
|
provide for the following, as applicable, during the defendant's |
|
|
term of community supervision: |
|
|
(A) housing; |
|
|
(B) employment; |
|
|
(C) education; |
|
|
(D) financial support for the defendant's |
|
|
family; and |
|
|
(E) medical or mental health care. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |