84R12425 JRR-F
	By: Rodríguez	S.B. No. 891

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the operations of the Texas Department of Criminal
	Justice, including conditions of confinement of certain inmates and
	required training for correctional officers employed by the
	department.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by
	adding Sections 493.032, 493.033, and 493.034 to read as follows:
	Sec. 493.032.  REQUIRED TRAINING FOR CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS.
	(a)  The department shall require each correctional officer
	employed by the department to complete, during the officer's first
	24 months of service, not less than 280 hours of training,
	including:
	(1)  140 hours of on-the-job training; and
	(2)  mental health crisis intervention training.
	(b)  The department shall indicate in the correctional
	officer's personnel file that the officer has completed the
	training required by this section.
	(c)  A correctional officer is not required to complete
	training under this section if the officer's personnel file
	indicates that the officer has completed the training required by
	this section during a previous period of employment as a
	correctional officer.
	(d)  The department may suspend or otherwise discipline a
	correctional officer who fails to comply with the requirements of
	this section.
	Sec. 493.033.  CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIRED FOR
	CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS. (a) The department shall require each
	correctional officer employed by the department to complete at
	least 80 hours of continuing education programs once every 24
	months. The department may suspend or otherwise discipline a
	correctional officer who fails to comply with this requirement.
	(b)  As part of the continuing education requirement under
	Subsection (a), a correctional officer must complete a training and
	education program that covers 40 hours of core requirements
	designated by the department.
	(c)  The department shall develop specialized training for
	correctional officers that may be credited toward continuing
	education requirements.
	(d)  The department by rule shall provide for a waiver of the
	requirements of this section if mitigating circumstances exist.
	(e)  The department shall credit a correctional officer with
	meeting the continuing education requirements of this section if
	during the relevant 24-month period the correctional officer serves
	on active duty as a member of the United States military for at
	least 12 months. Credit for continuing education under this
	subsection does not affect any requirement to demonstrate
	continuing weapons proficiency under Section 493.034.
	(f)  The department shall credit toward the continuing
	education requirements of this section training approved by the
	Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
	(g)  A correctional officer is not required to complete
	continuing education under this section during the period in which
	the officer is completing training under Section 493.032.
	Sec. 493.034.  CONTINUING DEMONSTRATION OF WEAPONS
	PROFICIENCY. (a) The department shall designate one or more
	firearms proficiency officers and require each correctional
	officer employed by the department to demonstrate weapons
	proficiency to a firearms proficiency officer at least annually.
	The department shall maintain records of the weapons proficiency of
	correctional officers.
	(b)  On request, the department may waive the requirement
	that a correctional officer demonstrate weapons proficiency on a
	determination by the department that the requirement causes a
	hardship.
	(c)  The department by rule shall define weapons proficiency
	for purposes of this section.
	SECTION 2.  Chapter 501, Government Code, is amended by
	adding Subchapter G to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER G. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF ADMINISTRATIVE SEGREGATION
	Sec. 501.191.  DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
	(1)  "Inmate with a serious mental illness or other
	significant mental impairment" means an inmate confined by the
	department who has a substantial disorder of thought or mood that
	significantly impairs the inmate's judgment, behavior, capacity to
	recognize reality, or ability to cope with the ordinary demands of
	life. The term includes an inmate who has current symptoms of or is
	receiving treatment for:
	(A)  any of the following Axis I diagnoses as
	defined by the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic
	and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition:
	(i)  schizophrenia, including any
	schizophrenia subtype;
	(ii)  delusional disorder;
	(iii)  schizophreniform disorder;
	(iv)  schizoaffective disorder;
	(v)  brief psychotic disorder;
	(vi)  substance-induced psychotic disorder,
	other than intoxication or withdrawal;
	(vii)  bipolar disorder I or II;
	(viii)  major depressive disorder; or
	(ix)  any other psychotic disorder;
	(B)  a mental disorder that includes being
	actively suicidal;
	(C)  a mental illness that is frequently
	characterized by breaks with reality or perceptions of reality that
	lead to significant functional impairment;
	(D)  an organic brain syndrome that results in
	significant functional impairment if not treated;
	(E)  a severe personality disorder that is
	manifested by frequent episodes of psychosis or depression and
	results in significant functional impairment; or
	(F)  an intellectual disability with significant
	functional impairment.
	(2)  "Mental health professional" means a
	psychiatrist, psychologist, or nurse practitioner who is licensed
	to practice in this state.
	Sec. 501.192.  POLICY REGARDING ADMINISTRATIVE SEGREGATION.
	The department shall adopt policies to ensure that inmates confined
	in administrative segregation or subject to other restrictive means
	of confinement are not at risk of recidivism due to unaddressed
	mental health needs or other impacts of long-term isolation.
	Sec. 501.1921.  IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.  In
	adopting policies under Section 501.192, the department shall
	implement the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Isolated
	Confinement contained in the committee's report to the 85th
	Legislature.  The recommendations must be implemented not later
	than the time period specified in the report.  This section expires
	September 1, 2019.
	Sec. 501.193.  MENTAL HEALTH UNIT. (a) In this section,
	"mental health unit" means a residential, therapeutic housing unit
	established under Subsection (b).
	(b)  The department shall establish a mental health unit to
	provide:
	(1)  long-term housing to inmates with a serious mental
	illness or other significant mental impairment in lieu of
	confinement in administrative segregation; and
	(2)  clinically appropriate and habilitative programs
	and services, including long-term mental health treatment, to
	inmates described by Subdivision (1).
	Sec. 501.194.  RESTRICTIONS ON PLACEMENT OF CERTAIN INMATES
	IN ADMINISTRATIVE SEGREGATION. (a) An inmate with a serious mental
	illness or other significant mental impairment may not be placed in
	administrative segregation unless exigent circumstances require
	the placement.
	(b)  If an inmate described by Subsection (a) is placed in
	administrative segregation for more than 24 hours, the person who
	made the decision to place the inmate in administrative segregation
	shall file a report with the unit warden explaining the exigent
	circumstances that required the placement.
	(c)  If an inmate described by Subsection (a) is placed in
	administrative segregation for more than four hours, on two or more
	occasions during a seven-day period, the person who made the
	decision to place the inmate in administrative segregation shall
	file a report with the unit warden explaining the exigent
	circumstances that required multiple placements.
	Sec. 501.195.  MENTAL HEALTH EXAMINATION. (a) Not later
	than 24 hours after an inmate is placed in administrative
	segregation, the inmate must be examined by a mental health
	professional to determine whether the inmate is an inmate with a
	serious mental illness or other significant mental impairment.
	(b)  If the mental health professional determines that an
	inmate examined under Subsection (a) is an inmate with a serious
	mental illness or other significant mental impairment, the
	department shall transfer the inmate from administrative
	segregation to a mental health unit established under Section
	501.193, a mental health facility within the correctional facility,
	or other appropriate housing that does not include long-term
	isolated confinement.
	Sec. 501.196.  INVOLVEMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL IN
	ADMINISTRATIVE SEGREGATION DECISIONS. (a) A mental health
	professional must participate in all initial and ongoing decisions
	relating to an inmate's placement in administrative segregation,
	including all reviews conducted by:
	(1)  the state classification committee; or
	(2)  the administrative segregation committee.
	(b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), an inmate must be
	placed in a setting that is less restrictive than administrative
	segregation if the mental health professional who is participating
	in the review of the placement or continued placement of the inmate
	in administrative segregation finds that the inmate's placement in
	administrative segregation will:
	(1)  increase the likelihood of recidivism by the
	inmate;
	(2)  cause the inmate to develop a serious mental
	illness or other significant mental impairment as described by
	Section 501.191;
	(3)  exacerbate an existing serious mental illness or
	other significant mental impairment as described by Section
	501.191;
	(4)  cause or exacerbate suicidal ideation; or
	(5)  otherwise undermine the rehabilitation of the
	inmate.
	(c)  An inmate is not required to be placed in a less
	restrictive setting under Subsection (b) if the committee
	conducting the review determines that, based on evidence presented
	to the committee that the inmate is a security threat or poses a
	danger to other inmates or staff, exigent circumstances require the
	temporary placement of the inmate in administrative segregation.
	(d)  The unit warden and a mental health professional shall
	conduct a review of an inmate's placement in administrative
	segregation not later than 24 hours after exigent circumstances are
	found to exist under Subsection (c) and after each subsequent
	24-hour period until the inmate can safely be placed in a less
	restrictive setting.
	Sec. 501.197.  PERIOD OF CONFINEMENT. (a) Except as
	provided by Subsection (b), the department may not confine an
	inmate in administrative segregation for more than 365 consecutive
	days.
	(b)  The department may confine an inmate in administrative
	segregation for a period that exceeds 365 consecutive days if, not
	more than 30 days before the inmate's 365th consecutive day in
	administrative segregation:
	(1)  the state classification committee conducts a
	review of the inmate's custody classification; and
	(2)  based on the review conducted under Subdivision
	(1), the executive director approves continuing the inmate's
	confinement in administrative segregation for a period that exceeds
	365 consecutive days.
	Sec. 501.198.  REENTRY STEP-DOWN PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN INMATES
	IN ADMINISTRATIVE SEGREGATION.  (a) The department shall establish
	a program for inmates who are projected to be released or discharged
	from the department in 180 days or less and who have been confined
	in administrative segregation for at least 180 consecutive days.
	(b)  A program established under this section must:
	(1)  house inmates described by Subsection (a) in a
	residential, therapeutic housing unit within a correctional
	facility in lieu of confinement in administrative segregation;
	(2)  provide clinically appropriate and habilitative
	programs and services to the inmates; and
	(3)  provide programs and services that are designed to
	ensure successful reentry, including programs and services that
	assist the inmates in developing:
	(A)  the ability to obtain and maintain long-term
	employment and stable housing; and
	(B)  social and life skills, including building
	and maintaining parenting skills, anger management techniques,
	positive family interactions, and law-abiding behavior.
	(c)  Not later than 180 days before the date an inmate
	confined in administrative segregation for at least 180 consecutive
	days is projected to be released or discharged from the department,
	the department shall transfer the inmate from administrative
	segregation to a program established under this section.
	SECTION 3.  Subtitle G, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
	by adding Chapter 512 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 512. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ISOLATED CONFINEMENT
	Sec. 512.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1)  "Committee" means the Advisory Committee on
	Isolated Confinement.
	(2)  "Correctional facility" means a facility operated
	by or under contract with the department.
	(3)  "Isolated confinement" means prolonged
	confinement of an inmate in a cell, typically 22 hours or more per
	day, with very limited time spent outside the inmate's cell and
	severely restricted activity, movement, and social interaction,
	whether pursuant to disciplinary, administrative, or
	classification action.
	Sec. 512.002.  CREATION. The Advisory Committee on Isolated
	Confinement is created.
	Sec. 512.003.  COMPOSITION. (a)  The committee is composed
	of the following 14 members:
	(1)  the executive director of the department or the
	executive director's designee;
	(2)  the director of the department's health services
	division or the director's designee;
	(3)  the director of the Texas Correctional Office on
	Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments or the director's
	designee;
	(4)  the presiding officer of the Correctional Managed
	Health Care Committee or the presiding officer's designee;
	(5)  one representative designated by the American
	Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Texas
	Correctional Employees Council;
	(6)  one representative designated by Disability
	Rights Texas;
	(7)  one representative designated by Mental Health
	America of Texas or, if Mental Health America of Texas does not
	designate a representative, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health;
	(8)  one representative designated by the National
	Alliance on Mental Illness or, if the National Alliance on Mental
	Illness does not designate a representative, the Meadows Mental
	Health Policy Institute; and
	(9)  six members appointed by the governor, consisting
	of:
	(A)  one representative of a nonprofit entity
	involved with the reintegration of inmates;
	(B)  one representative of a faith-based
	organization involved with the reintegration of inmates;
	(C)  one representative of an organization
	composed of families of inmates;
	(D)  one member who was convicted of a criminal
	offense in this state;
	(E)  one member who has expertise in criminal
	justice and mental health issues and who is independent of the
	department; and
	(F)  one member who has expertise in issues
	related to administrative segregation, seclusion, or solitary
	confinement and who is independent of the department.
	(b)  The governor shall designate a member of the committee
	to serve as presiding officer.
	Sec. 512.004.  MEETINGS. The committee shall meet at the
	times and places that the presiding officer determines are
	appropriate.
	Sec. 512.005.  DUTIES. The committee shall:
	(1)  in consultation with the department, conduct a
	comprehensive review of isolated confinement policies and
	practices in correctional facilities in this state;
	(2)  request from the department information and data
	relating to the use of isolated confinement;
	(3)  make findings and policy recommendations relating
	to the use of isolated confinement in correctional facilities in
	this state, including recommended methods to:
	(A)  reduce the number of inmates housed in
	isolated confinement;
	(B)  ensure proper treatment and care of inmates
	housed in isolated confinement who have a serious mental illness or
	other significant mental impairment;
	(C)  provide inmates housed in isolated
	confinement with increased access to mental health treatment,
	services, and programs, including programs that provide for
	increased social interaction or increases in the amount of time an
	inmate is allowed out of the inmate's cell; and
	(D)  implement programs that provide for less
	restrictive housing based on good behavior;
	(4)  publish the report described by Section 512.006 on
	a public website; and
	(5)  provide recommendations to the department
	regarding the establishment of mental health units under Section
	501.193.
	Sec. 512.006.  REPORT. Not later than December 1, 2016, the
	committee shall deliver a report of the committee's findings and
	recommendations made under Section 512.005, including deadlines
	for the department to implement those recommendations, to the
	governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
	representatives, the presiding officers of the Senate Committee on
	Criminal Justice and the House Committee on Corrections, and the
	executive director of the department.
	Sec. 512.007.  EXPIRATION. The committee is abolished and
	this chapter expires August 31, 2017.
	SECTION 4.  Not later than January 1, 2016, the Texas
	Department of Criminal Justice shall adopt rules as required by
	Sections 493.033 and 493.034, Government Code, as added by this
	Act.
	SECTION 5.  (a) Section 493.032, Government Code, as added
	by this Act, applies only to a correctional officer hired by the
	Texas Department of Criminal Justice on or after the effective date
	of this Act. A correctional officer hired before the effective date
	of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
	that purpose.
	(b)  Sections 493.033 and 493.034, Government Code, as added
	by this Act, apply to a correctional officer employed by the Texas
	Department of Criminal Justice on or after the effective date of
	this Act, regardless of whether the officer is hired before, on, or
	after that date.
	SECTION 6.  (a) Not later than October 1, 2015, each inmate
	confined in administrative segregation in a facility operated by or
	under contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on the
	effective date of this Act must be examined by a mental health
	professional, as defined by Section 501.191, Government Code, as
	added by this Act, to determine whether the inmate is an inmate with
	a serious mental illness or other significant mental impairment.
	(b)  If the mental health professional determines that an
	inmate examined under Subsection (a) is an inmate with a serious
	mental illness or other significant mental impairment, the Texas
	Department of Criminal Justice shall transfer the inmate from
	administrative segregation to a mental health unit established
	under Section 501.193, Government Code, as added by this Act, a
	mental health facility within the correctional facility, or other
	appropriate housing that does not include long-term isolated
	confinement.
	SECTION 7.  (a)  Not later than November 1, 2015, the
	governor shall make the appointments required by Section 512.003,
	Government Code, as added by this Act.
	(b)  The presiding officer of the Advisory Committee on
	Isolated Confinement shall convene the first meeting of the
	committee not later than December 1, 2015.
	SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.