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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