Legislative library home page
Legislative Reference Library of Texas
your partner in legislative research
Legislative Reference Library of Texas
your partner in legislative research
Skip to main content

House Committee Resources: Corrections

Nov 24

posted by TexasLRL in Committee Resources, 86th Session

House Committee Resources: Corrections
The committee has requested written submissions on the following topics. Below are resources related to those topics.

 

House Committee on Corrections
Charge 1: Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee's jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 86th Legislature. Conduct active oversight of all associated rulemaking and other governmental actions taken to ensure intended legislative outcome of all legislation, including the following:

  • HB 374, which relates to meetings or visits between a defendant on community supervision and a supervision officer. Monitor community supervision and corrections department rules regarding the scheduling of meetings or visits with a defendant placed on community supervision. Examine the process by which community supervision and corrections departments implement newly adopted policies.

  • HB 650 and HB 3227, which relate to the welfare of confined females within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Monitor TDCJ rules regulating treatment of incarcerated women. Examine the process by which the department facilitates the educational, medical, and wellness needs of incarcerated pregnant women.
  • HB 1191, which relates to an annual report concerning the number of inmates who have been in the conservatorship of a state agency responsible for providing child protective services. Monitor the TDCJ's collection of statistical information concerning the total number of inmates who have at any time been in the conservatorship of a state agency responsible for providing child protective services.
  • SB 1147, which relates to conditions of community supervision for certain driving while intoxicated offenses. Monitor the implementation of the legislation and provide recommendations to improve access to treatment for defendants convicted of driving while intoxicated.

 

House Committee on Corrections
Charge 2: Examine gaps in services and assess efforts to connect justice-involved veterans, senior citizens, and homeless populations to services while incarcerated and after release at both the local and state levels. Specifically, the committee should evaluate training and technical assistance provided by the Texas Veterans Commission to criminal justice agencies.

 

House Committee on Corrections
Charge 3: Examine the current parole revocation warrant ("blue warrant") procedure. Specifically, the committee should consider the monetary costs to the counties; using Risk Assessment Instruments and the Offense Severity Scale to evaluate static and dynamic factors associated with an offender's record in order to escalate high-risk revocation offenders to the Department of Public Safety for immediate detention; and creating an online list providing the number of outstanding "blue warrants" pending per county.

 

House Committee on Corrections
Charge 4: Evaluate funding provided to the TDCJ for the repair, maintenance, and upgrade of prison facilities. Determine areas of the facilities that are in most need of repair, maintenance, or upgrade and examine the costs associated with such repairs, maintenance, or upgrades. Examine the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee's administration of Hepatitis C treatment and procedures. Review the Community Justice Assistance Division's current compliance practices and examine current funding formulas for adult probation departments. Study the TDCJ's ownership of real property not being used for prison facilities, including the amount of property owned and its highest and best use.

 

House Committee on Corrections
Charge 5: Monitor the State Auditor's review of agencies and programs under the committee's jurisdiction.

This entry was posted on November 24, 2020 at 11:10 AM and has received 1571 views. Print this entry.