By: Johnson, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 549
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2015;
  May 13, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
  Justice; May 22, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 22, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to certain duties of the Commission on Jail Standards
  regarding visitation periods for county jail prisoners.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 511.009, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) 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; [and]
               (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.
         (a-1)  A county jail that as of September 1, 2015, has
  incurred significant design, engineering, or construction costs to
  provide prisoner visitation that does not comply with a rule or
  procedure adopted under Subsection (a)(20), or does not have the
  physical plant capability to provide the in-person prisoner
  visitation required by a rule or procedure adopted under Subsection
  (a)(20), is not required to comply with any commission rule or
  procedure adopted under Subsection (a)(20).
         (a-2)  A commission rule or procedure adopted under
  Subsection (a)(20) may not restrict the authority of a county jail
  under the commission's rules in effect on September 1, 2015, to
  limit prisoner visitation for disciplinary reasons.
         SECTION 2.  The Commission on Jail Standards shall establish
  the specific standards as required by Section 511.009(a)(20),
  Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
  2016.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
 
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