CHAPTER 507. STATE JAIL DIVISION
GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 4. EXECUTIVE BRANCH
SUBTITLE G. CORRECTIONS
CHAPTER 507. STATE JAIL DIVISION
SUBCHAPTER A. STATE JAIL FELONY FACILITIES
Sec. 507.001. AUTHORITY TO OPERATE OR CONTRACT FOR STATE JAIL
FELONY FACILITIES. (a) The state jail division may operate,
maintain, and manage state jail felony facilities to confine
inmates described by Section 507.002, and the department may
finance and construct those facilities. The state jail division,
with the approval of the board, may contract with the
institutional division, a private vendor, a community supervision
and corrections department, or the commissioners court of a
county for the construction, operation, maintenance, or
management of a state jail felony facility. The community justice
assistance division shall assist the state jail division to
contract with a community supervision and corrections department
for the construction, operation, maintenance, or management of a
state jail felony facility. The state jail division shall consult
with the community justice assistance division before contracting
with a community supervision and corrections department under
this section. A community supervision and corrections department
or the commissioners court of a county that contracts under this
section may subcontract with a private vendor for the provision
of any or all services described by this subsection. A community
supervision and corrections department that contracts under this
section may subcontract with the commissioners court of a county
for the provision of any or all services described by this
subsection. The board may contract with a private vendor or the
commissioners court of a county for the financing or construction
of a state jail felony facility.
(b) The community justice assistance division and the state jail
division shall develop and implement work programs and programs
of rehabilitation, education, and recreation in state jail felony
facilities. For each state jail felony facility, the community
justice assistance division and the state jail division shall
consult with the community supervision and corrections
departments and the community justice councils served by the
facility in developing programs in that facility, and shall
develop the programs in a manner that makes appropriate use of
facilities and personnel of the community supervision and
corrections departments. In developing the programs, the state
jail division and the community justice assistance division shall
attempt to structure programs so that they are operated on a
90-day cycle, although the divisions should deviate from a 90-day
schedule as necessary to meet the requirements of a particular
program.
(c) Services described by Subsection (a) must be provided in
compliance with standards established by the board. Programs
described by Subsection (b) must be provided in compliance with
minimum requirements established under Subsection (b).
(d) A state jail felony facility authorized by this subchapter
may be located on private land or on land owned by the federal
government, the state, a community supervision and corrections
department, or a political subdivision of the state. The board
may accept land donated for that purpose.
(e) A commissioners court of a county or a community supervision
and corrections department may not enter into a contract under
this section unless:
(1) the commissioners court or department first consults with
the community justice council serving the county or serving the
department; and
(2) the most recent community justice plan for the county or
department served by the community justice council that has been
approved by the community justice assistance division describes
the contract.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 321, Sec. 1.097, eff.
Sept. 1, 1995.
Sec. 507.002. ELIGIBLE DEFENDANTS. The state jail division may
confine in a state jail felony facility authorized by this
subchapter defendants required by a judge to serve a term of
confinement in a state jail felony facility following a grant of
deferred adjudication for or conviction of an offense punishable
as a state jail felony.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 318, Sec. 72, eff.
Sept. 1, 1995.
Sec. 507.003. REGIONS. The board shall designate not fewer than
nine regions in the state for the purpose of providing regional
state jail felony facilities. The board shall ensure that regions
are designed to efficiently serve community supervision and
corrections departments. The board may not designate a region
that contains a part of an area served by a community supervision
and corrections department. The board may designate a region that
contains only one judicial district, but only if the judicial
district serves a municipality with a population of 400,000 or
more. Any other provision of law that would otherwise require the
board to designate regions on the basis of uniform service
regions does not apply to this section.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993.
Sec. 507.004. ALLOCATION POLICIES. The board shall adopt and
enforce:
(1) a regional allocation policy to allocate the number of
facilities and beds to each region established under Section
507.003; and
(2) an intra-regional allocation policy for each region, to
allocate the number of facilities and beds within a region to the
community supervision and corrections departments in that region,
unless those departments by their own agreement establish the
allocation of beds in the region.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993.
Sec. 507.006. USE OF FACILITY FOR OTHER INMATES. (a)
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, the state
jail division, with the approval of the board, may designate one
or more state jail felony facilities or discrete areas within one
or more state jail felony facilities to treat inmates who are
eligible for confinement in a substance abuse felony punishment
facility under Section 493.009 or to house inmates who are
eligible for confinement in a transfer facility under Section
499.152, but only if the designation does not deny placement in a
state jail felony facility of defendants required to serve terms
of confinement in a facility following conviction of state jail
felonies. The division may not house in a state jail felony
facility an inmate who:
(1) has a history of or has shown a pattern of violent or
assaultive behavior in county jail or a facility operated by the
department; or
(2) will increase the likelihood of harm to the public if housed
in the facility.
(b) Sections 499.154 and 499.155 apply to an inmate eligible for
confinement in a transfer facility under Section 499.152 who is
nonetheless confined in a state jail felony facility in the same
manner as if the inmate were confined in a transfer facility.
(c) The responsibility of the department to provide substance
abuse felony punishment facilities is governed by the General
Appropriations Act and Section 493.009. This section does not
affect the responsibility of the department to provide substance
abuse felony punishment facilities.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 321, Sec. 1.098,
1.113, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 488, Sec. 5,
eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
SUBCHAPTER B. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 507.022. EMPLOYEES' SALARIES, ROOM AND BOARD, AND MEDICAL
CARE. (a) Salaries of employees of the state jail division and
the provision of board, lodging, uniforms, and other provisions
to employees are as provided by the General Appropriations Act.
(b) Employees of the state jail division who are injured in the
line of duty are entitled to receive free medical care and
hospitalization from institutional division doctors and the
institutional division hospital.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993.
Sec. 507.023. AIDS AND HIV EDUCATION; TESTING. (a) The state
jail division shall establish and provide education programs to
educate state jail division employees and defendants in state
jail felony facilities about AIDS and HIV in the same manner as
the institutional division establishes and provides programs for
employees and inmates under Section 501.054.
(b) The state jail division shall adopt a policy for handling a
defendant with AIDS or HIV and shall test a defendant for AIDS or
HIV in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as
apply to the institutional division under Section 501.054.
(c) In this section, "AIDS" and "HIV" have the meanings assigned
by Section 81.101, Health and Safety Code.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
1184, Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2005.
Sec. 507.024. TRANSPORTATION OF DEFENDANTS. The board shall
adopt rules to provide for the safe transfer of defendants from
counties to state jail felony facilities. A sheriff may transport
defendants to a state jail felony facility if the sheriff is able
to perform the service as economically as if the service were
performed by the division. The state jail division is responsible
for the cost of transportation of defendants to the division.
Defendants may be transported with other persons being
transported to the custody of the department provided appropriate
security precautions prescribed by policies of the department are
taken.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993.
Sec. 507.025. MEDICAL CARE. The state jail division, with the
approval of the board, may contract with the institutional
division, a private vendor, or any public health care provider
for the provision of medical services to defendants in state jail
felony facilities.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993.
Sec. 507.026. CHANGE IN DESIGNATION OF FACILITY. The board may
designate any facility under its control as a state jail felony
facility and confine state jail felons in that facility.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993.
Sec. 507.027. INSPECTIONS. The board shall adopt rules relating
to inspections by the department of state jail felony facility
construction projects.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 1.07, eff. Sept. 1,
1993.
Sec. 507.028. SCREENING FOR AND EDUCATION CONCERNING FETAL
ALCOHOL EXPOSURE DURING PREGNANCY. (a) The department shall
establish and use a screening program in state jail felony
facilities that is substantially similar to the program
established and used by the department under Section 501.059.
(b) The department shall provide to all female defendants
confined in state jail felony facilities an educational brochure
describing the risks and dangers of consuming alcohol during
pregnancy.
Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
1308, Sec. 32, eff. June 15, 2007.
Sec. 507.029. USE OF INMATE LABOR. The department may use the
labor of inmates of the institutional division in any work or
community service program or project performed by the state jail
division.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 321, Sec. 1.100, eff. Sept. 1,
1995.
Sec. 507.030. VISITATION. (a) The state jail division shall
allow the governor, members of the legislature, and officials of
the executive and judicial branches to enter during business
hours any part of a facility operated by the division, for the
purpose of observing the operations of the division. A visitor
described by this subsection may talk with defendants away from
division employees.
(b) The state jail division shall establish a visitation policy
for persons confined in state jail felony facilities.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 321, Sec. 1.101, eff. Sept. 1,
1995.
Sec. 507.031. FURLOUGH PROGRAM. (a) The director of a state
jail felony facility may grant a furlough to a defendant so that
the defendant may:
(1) obtain a medical diagnosis or medical treatment;
(2) obtain treatment and supervision at a Texas Department of
Mental Health and Mental Retardation facility;
(3) attend a funeral or visit a critically ill relative; or
(4) participate in a programmatic activity sanctioned by the
state jail division.
(b) The state jail division shall adopt policies for the
administration of the furlough program.
(c) A defendant furloughed under this section is considered to
be in the custody of the state jail division, even if the
defendant is not under physical guard while furloughed.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 321, Sec. 1.099, eff. Sept. 1,
1995. Renumbered from Government Code Sec. 507.028 by Acts 1997,
75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 31.01(43), eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Sec. 507.032. IDENTIFICATION OF DEFENDANTS SUBJECT TO ARREST
WARRANT. Before a defendant is released from confinement in a
state jail felony facility, the department shall conduct a
criminal history record check to determine whether the defendant
is the subject of an arrest warrant. In conducting the criminal
history record check, the department shall allow sufficient time
for compliance with any requirements related to notifying the
proper authorities of the defendant's release and, if necessary,
processing a demand for extradition of the defendant.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 205, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 507.033. REHABILITATION PROGRAMS. (a) The state jail
division may allow a defendant who is capable of serving as a
tutor to tutor functionally illiterate defendants and shall
actively encourage volunteer organizations to aid in the tutoring
of defendants. A person who acts as a tutor may function only as
a teacher and advisor to a defendant and may not exercise
supervisory authority or control over the defendant.
(b) The state jail division shall actively encourage volunteer
organizations to provide the following programs for defendants
who are housed in facilities operated by or under contract with
the division:
(1) literacy and education programs;
(2) life skills programs;
(3) job skills programs;
(4) parent-training programs;
(5) drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs;
(6) support group programs;
(7) arts and crafts programs; and
(8) other programs determined by the division to aid defendants
confined in state jail felony facilities in the transition from
confinement or supervision back into society and to reduce
incidents of recidivism among defendants.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 391, Sec. 1, eff. June 20,
2003.