Bill Text: TX HB3538 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to the release of certain inmates on medically recommended intensive supervision or on super-intensive supervision parole.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-11 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB3538 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB3538-Comm_Sub.html

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82R24047 PEP-F
By: Thompson H.B. No. 3538
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3538:
By: Cain C.S.H.B. No. 3538

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the release of certain inmates on medically recommended
intensive supervision or on super-intensive supervision parole.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 508, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 508.1451 and 508.1459 to read as
follows:
Sec. 508.1451. MANDATORY RELEASE OF CERTAIN ELDERLY
INMATES. (a) A parole panel shall order the release of an inmate on
super-intensive supervision parole under Section 508.317 not later
than the first anniversary of the later of:
(1) the inmate's initial parole eligibility date
computed under Section 508.145; or
(2) the date the inmate reaches 65 years of age.
(b) This section does not apply to an inmate who is serving a
sentence for or has been previously convicted of:
(1) an offense described by Section 508.145(a);
(2) an offense listed in or described by Section
3g(a), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(3) an offense under Section 20.02, 21.11, 21.12,
25.02, 29.02, 43.05, 43.26, 49.07, 49.08, 71.022, or 71.023, Penal
Code; or
(4) an offense under Section 71.02, Penal Code, based
on a conspiracy to commit an offense listed in or described by
Subdivision (1), (2), or (3).
(c) A parole panel may not release an otherwise eligible
inmate under this section if the inmate:
(1) has been the subject of major disciplinary action
within the 12-month period preceding the date the inmate would
otherwise be eligible for release under this section;
(2) has been reclassified by the department based on
the inmate's conduct, obedience, and industry and is in a less
favorable classification than was originally determined by the
department under Section 498.002; or
(3) is considered by the department to be at high risk
or very high risk of unsuccessful reentry into the community
following release from the department.
(d) The board shall adopt a policy establishing the date on
which a parole panel may reconsider for release an inmate who has
previously been denied release under Subsection (c). The policy
must require the parole panel to at least annually reconsider the
inmate for release as soon as practicable after each anniversary of
the date of denial.
Sec. 508.1459. MANDATORY RELEASE OF CERTAIN INMATES ON
MEDICALLY RECOMMENDED INTENSIVE SUPERVISION. (a) In this section:
(1) "Condition requiring long-term care" means a
physical condition that persists for a sustained period of time and
is unlikely to improve, results in an inability to provide
sufficient self-care, and requires regular nursing care.
(2) "Organic brain syndrome" means any one of a group
of acute or chronic syndromes involving temporary or permanent
impairment of brain function caused by trauma, infection, toxin,
tumor, or tissue sclerosis, and resulting in mild to severe
impairment of memory, orientation, judgment, intellectual
functions, and emotional adjustment.
(3) "Persistent vegetative state" means a physical
condition of profound nonresponsiveness in the wakeful state caused
by brain damage at any level and characterized by a nonfunctioning
cerebral cortex, absence of response to the external environment,
akinesia, mutism, and inability to signal.
(4) "Terminal illness" means an incurable illness or
condition that requires skilled nursing care, hospice care, or home
health care, and is expected to result in death in six months or
less regardless of life-sustaining treatment.
(b) A parole panel shall release on medically recommended
intensive supervision any inmate, regardless of the inmate's
initial parole eligibility date computed under Section 508.145, if
on the basis of a medical examination approved by at least two
physicians the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical
or Mental Impairments identifies the inmate as:
(1) having a terminal illness;
(2) having a condition requiring long-term care;
(3) being in a persistent vegetative state; or
(4) having an organic brain syndrome with significant
to total mobility impairment.
(c) This section does not apply to an inmate:
(1) whose condition existed at the time of sentencing
and has not deteriorated; or
(2) who is serving a sentence for or has been
previously convicted of:
(A) an offense described by Section 508.145(a);
(B) an offense listed in or described by Section
3g(a), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(C) an offense under Section 20.02, 21.11, 21.12,
25.02, 29.02, 43.05, 43.26, 49.07, 49.08, 71.022, or 71.023, Penal
Code; or
(D) an offense under Section 71.02, Penal Code,
based on a conspiracy to commit an offense listed in or described by
Paragraph (A), (B), or (C).
(d) Before releasing an inmate under Subsection (b), the
Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental
Impairments, in cooperation with the department, shall prepare for
the inmate a medically recommended intensive supervision plan that
requires the inmate to submit to electronic monitoring, places the
inmate on super-intensive supervision, or otherwise ensures
appropriate supervision of the inmate.
(e) A parole panel releasing an inmate under Subsection (b)
shall require as a condition of release that the releasee remain
under the care of a physician and in a medically suitable placement.
At least once each calendar quarter, the Texas Correctional Office
on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments shall report to the
parole panel on the releasee's medical and placement status. On the
basis of the report, the parole panel may modify conditions of
release and impose any condition on the releasee that the panel
could impose on a releasee released under Section 508.145.
(f) Section 508.146(d) applies to a request for proposals to
provide under contract services for inmates released on medically
recommended intensive supervision under this section.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 508.146, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 508.146. DISCRETIONARY RELEASE OF CERTAIN INMATES ON
MEDICALLY RECOMMENDED INTENSIVE SUPERVISION.
SECTION 3. Section 508.146, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (e) and adding Subsection (a-1)
to read as follows:
(a) An inmate other than an inmate who is serving a sentence
of death or life without parole may be released on medically
recommended intensive supervision on a date designated by a parole
panel described by Subsection (e)[, except that an inmate with an
instant offense that is an offense described in Section 3g, Article
42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or an inmate who has a reportable
conviction or adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure, may only be considered if a medical condition of
terminal illness or long-term care has been diagnosed by a
physician,] if:
(1) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with
Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the Correctional
Managed Health Care Committee, identifies the inmate as:
(A) being 65 years of age or older[:
[(A) elderly], physically disabled, mentally
ill, [terminally ill,] or mentally retarded; or
(B) having been diagnosed by a physician as:
(i) having a medical condition of terminal
illness or requiring long-term care, if the inmate is an inmate with
an instant offense that is described in Section 3g, Article 42.12,
Code of Criminal Procedure, or is an inmate who has a reportable
conviction or adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure; and[; or]
(ii) being [(B)] in a persistent vegetative
state or being a person with an organic brain syndrome with
significant to total mobility impairment, if the inmate is an
inmate who has a reportable conviction or adjudication under
Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(2) the suitability of the inmate for release on
medically recommended intensive supervision, based on a medical
examination of the inmate, has been approved by a panel of at least
two physicians;
(3) the parole panel determines that, based on the
inmate's condition and a medical evaluation, the inmate does not
constitute a threat to public safety; and
(4) [(3)] the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders
with Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the pardons
and paroles division, has prepared for the inmate a medically
recommended intensive supervision plan that requires the inmate to
submit to electronic monitoring, places the inmate on
super-intensive supervision, or otherwise ensures appropriate
supervision of the inmate.
(a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a), "condition requiring
long-term care," "organic brain syndrome," "persistent vegetative
state," and "terminal illness" have the meanings assigned by
Section 508.1459.
(b) An inmate may be released on medically recommended
intensive supervision only if the inmate's medically recommended
intensive supervision plan under Subsection (a)(4) [(a)(3)] is
approved by the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical
or Mental Impairments.
(e) Only parole panels composed of the presiding officer of
the board and two members appointed to the panel by the presiding
officer may make determinations regarding the release of inmates on
medically recommended intensive supervision under Subsection (a)
or of inmates released pending deportation. If the Texas Council on
Offenders with Mental Impairments identifies an inmate as a
candidate for release under the guidelines established by
Subsection (a) [(a)(1)], the council shall present to a parole
panel described by this subsection relevant information concerning
the inmate and the inmate's potential for release under this
section.
SECTION 4. Not later than January 1, 2012, the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice shall release on supervision:
(1) any elderly inmate eligible for release under
Section 508.1451, Government Code, as added by this Act, with
respect to whom a parole panel has not denied release on parole
under that section; and
(2) any inmate identified for release under Section
508.1459, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 5. Section 508.146, Government Code, as amended by
this Act, applies to the release of an inmate under that section on
or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of when the
offense for which the inmate is serving a sentence was committed.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.