Sec. 493.009. SUBSTANCE ABUSE FELONY PUNISHMENT FACILITIES. (a) The department shall establish a program to confine and treat:

(1) defendants required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure; and

(2) individuals referred for treatment as part of a drug court program established under Chapter 123 or a similar program created under other law.

(a-1) The board by rule may modify requirements imposed by this section and Chapter 42A, Code of Criminal Procedure, as necessary to properly treat individuals who are not participating in the program as a condition of community supervision.

(b) The board shall adopt criteria to determine the suitability of candidates for participation in the program. The department and the Department of State Health Services shall jointly develop methods of screening and assessing defendants required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure, to determine their need for specific types of treatment for alcohol or drug abuse problems.

(c) The program for persons required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure, must consist of treatment programs that may vary in time from 90 days to 12 months.

(d) The program for persons required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure, provided under this section must contain highly structured work, education, and treatment schedules, a clearly delineated authority structure, and well-defined goals and guidelines. The department shall establish a graded system of rewards and sanctions for defendants who participate in the program, but a defendant required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure, is not entitled to earn awards of time for good conduct. A qualified professional, at least every 60 days, must perform an evaluation on a defendant that determines the defendant's treatment progress and institutional behavior. Not later than three days after the date on which a four-month evaluation is performed, the qualified professional shall establish a tentative release date for the defendant, notify the sentencing court of that fact, and include with the notice a copy of the four-month evaluation. The qualified professional immediately shall notify the court if the professional determines the defendant's conduct requires a revision of the tentative release date.

(e) The department shall employ or contract with qualified professionals to implement the program for persons required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure. For purposes of this subsection, a "qualified professional" is a person who:

(1) is a licensed chemical dependency counselor;

(2) is a licensed social worker who has at least two years of experience in chemical dependency counseling; or

(3) is a licensed professional counselor, physician, or psychologist and who has at least two years of experience in chemical dependency counseling.

(f)

(1) The department shall adopt rules of conduct for persons required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure, or required to participate in the program following modification of community supervision or parole.

(2) If the qualified professional with primary responsibility for treating a defendant and the individual in charge of security in the facility in which the defendant is housed jointly determine that the defendant is not complying with the rules or is medically or psychologically unsuitable for the program, they shall notify the department of that fact.

(3) The department, immediately on receiving notice, shall request the sentencing court to reassume custody of the defendant if the defendant was required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure, or required to participate in the program following modification of community supervision. The court shall reassume custody before the 12th day after the date on which the department notifies the court. If the court revokes the defendant's community supervision, the admission of the defendant to the institutional division is an admission for which the department must account in the scheduled admissions policy established under Section 499.071.

(4) The department, immediately on receiving notice, shall request the pardons and paroles division to reassume custody of the defendant if the defendant was required to participate in the program following modification of parole. The pardons and paroles division shall immediately take action in accordance with established policies and procedures of the Board of Pardons and Paroles to remove the defendant from the program. If a parole panel revokes the defendant's parole, the admission of the defendant to the institutional division is an admission for which the department must account in the scheduled admissions policy established under Section 499.071.

(5) If the defendant was transferred to the facility from a county jail under Subsection (l), the department shall return the defendant to the county jail.

(6) A court's recommendation that a defendant be placed in a program created under this section does not give the court the power to hold the department or any officer or employee of the department in contempt of court for failure to adhere to that recommendation.

(g) The department shall provide beds for the purpose of operating the program for persons required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure, except that the beds may also be used to house the following categories of persons:

(1) persons transferred under Subchapter A, Chapter 499, and Section 508.118;

(2) persons whose community supervision or parole has been modified;

(3) defendants confined in county jails awaiting transfer to the institutional division; and

(4) inmates participating in the program described by Section 501.0931.

(h) On and after the date persons are required under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure, to participate in the program established under this section, the department shall give priority to housing those persons over the categories of persons described by Subsections (g)(1)-(4).

(i) Repealed by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1154, Sec. 29(1), eff. September 1, 2013.

(j) The department shall recover from a program participant the cost to the department of providing treatment, to the extent the participant has insurance that covers the treatment or is otherwise able to pay for the treatment.

(k) It is the intent of the legislature that facilities established under this section be used primarily to house persons required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure, except that if treatment beds are empty, this subsection does not prohibit the department from using those empty beds to treat the categories of persons listed in Subsection (g).

(l) The department shall identify defendants confined in county jails who are awaiting transfer to the institutional division and who because of their need for treatment of drug or alcohol problems require transfer to a substance abuse felony punishment facility. The department shall provide for the transportation of the defendant to such a facility. If the board finds that a county has failed to fully cooperate with the department in evaluating defendants under this section, the board shall notify the Commission on Jail Standards of that fact. On notice from the board, the commission may reduce or suspend payments under Subchapter F, Chapter 499, or may suspend the certification of the county jail as provided by Section 511.012.

(m) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the department is authorized to provide substance abuse felony punishment facilities, not to exceed 500 beds, for newly provided alcohol and drug abuse beds exclusively for persons whose community supervision or parole has been modified.

(n) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, the department shall separate participants in the program created under this section from inmates of the institutional division, except at times determined necessary by the department for the purpose of transportation or staging or for medical or security reasons. The department may commingle participants in the program created under this section with inmates in the program described by Section 501.0931.

(o) Repealed by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 321, Sec. 1.113, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

(p) To the extent funds are available, the Criminal Justice Policy Council, with the assistance of the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and the department, shall develop methods to evaluate the processes used by the department in providing the program and the level of success achieved by the program.

(q) The department not less often than every two years shall determine whether the department should increase the number of beds provided by the department for the operation of the program for persons required to participate in the program under Article 42A.303, Code of Criminal Procedure.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 2nd C.S., ch. 10, Sec. 19.03, eff. Oct. 1, 1991. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 988, Sec. 3.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 321, Sec. 1.004 to 1.006, 1.113, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 12.08, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1269, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 892, Sec. 22, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1139 (H.B. 2791), Sec. 2, eff. June 18, 2005.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 747 (S.B. 462), Sec. 2.10, eff. September 1, 2013.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1154 (S.B. 213), Sec. 29(1), eff. September 1, 2013.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 770 (H.B. 2299), Sec. 2.46, eff. January 1, 2017.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 770 (H.B. 2299), Sec. 2.47, eff. January 1, 2017.