Bill Text: TX HB2862 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the confinement of inmates according to biological sex.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-14 - Referred to Corrections [HB2862 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB2862-Introduced.html
| By: Swanson | H.B. No. 2862 | |
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| relating to the confinement of inmates according to biological sex. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 501, Government Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 501.115 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 501.115. HOUSING OF INMATES ACCORDING TO BIOLOGICAL | ||
| SEX. (a) The department, or institutional division under the | ||
| jurisdiction of the department, may not allow an inmate to be housed | ||
| in a cell block, dormitory, temporary housing, or correctional | ||
| facility that is designed for the biological sex opposite to the | ||
| inmate's biological sex as correctly determined by: | ||
| (1) the inmate's sex organs, determined at the initial | ||
| intake screening required under the Prison Rape Elimination Act | ||
| National Standards(28 C.F.R. Section 115.41); or | ||
| (2) the inmate's official birth certificate, as | ||
| described by Subsection (b). | ||
| (b) For purposes of this section, a statement of an inmate's | ||
| biological sex on the inmate's official birth certificate is | ||
| considered to have correctly stated the inmate's biological sex | ||
| only if the statement was: | ||
| (1) entered at or near the time of the inmate's birth; | ||
| or | ||
| (2) modified to correct any type of scrivener or | ||
| clerical error in the inmate's biological sex. | ||
| (c) If there is a conflict or discrepancy between | ||
| Subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2), the department, or institutional | ||
| division under the jurisdiction of the department shall defer to | ||
| the inmate's official birth certificate, as described by Subsection | ||
| (b), for the purposes of determining an inmate's biological sex. | ||
| (d) The Department of Vital Statistics, or other applicable | ||
| state agency, may not impose a cost to the department, or | ||
| institutional division under the jurisdiction of the department for | ||
| a request to obtain an inmate's birth certificate for the purposes | ||
| of determining an inmate's correct biological sex under this | ||
| section. | ||
| (e) Pursuant to the Prison Rape Elimination Act National | ||
| Standards (28 C.F.R., Part 115), the department, or institutional | ||
| division under the jurisdiction of the department shall consider | ||
| the unique safety needs of each inmate on a case by case basis, and | ||
| shall take appropriate action to ensure an inmate's health and | ||
| safety, so long as such action does not conflict with Subsection | ||
| (a). | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
