Texas Government Code Title 4, Chapter 501 - Inmate Welfare

SUBCHAPTER A GENERAL WELFARE PROVISIONS

• Texas Section 501.001 - Discrimination Against Inmates Prohibited
  The institutional division and the director of the institutional division may not discriminate against an inmate on the basis of the inmate's sex, race, color,...
• Texas Section 501.002 - Assault By Employee On Inmate
  If an employee of the department commits an assault on an inmate housed in a facility operated by or under contract with the department, the...
• Texas Section 501.003 - Food
  The department shall ensure that inmates housed in facilities operated by the department are fed good and wholesome food, prepared under sanitary conditions, and provided...
• Texas Section 501.004 - Clothing
  The department shall provide to inmates housed in facilities operated by the department suitable clothing that is of substantial material, uniform make, and reasonable fit...
• Texas Section 501.005 - Literacy Programs
  (a) The institutional division shall establish a program to teach reading to functionally illiterate inmates housed in facilities operated by the division. The institutional division...
• Texas Section 501.0051 - Receipt Of Books By Mail
  (a) The department shall establish a policy that permits an inmate to receive by mail reference books and other educational materials from a volunteer organization...
• Texas Section 501.006 - Emergency Absence
  (a) The institutional division may grant an emergency absence under escort to an inmate so that the inmate may: (1) obtain a medical diagnosis or...
• Texas Section 501.007 - Inmate Claims For Lost Or Damaged Property
  The department may pay from the miscellaneous funds appropriated to the division claims made by inmates housed in facilities operated by the department for property...
• Texas Section 501.008 - Inmate Grievance System
  (a) The department shall develop and maintain a system for the resolution of grievances by inmates housed in facilities operated by the department or under...
• Texas Section 501.0081 - Dispute Resolution: Time-served Credits
  (a) The department shall develop a system that allows resolution of a complaint by an inmate who alleges that time credited on the inmate's sentence...
• Texas Section 501.009 - Volunteer And Faith-based Organizations; Report
  (a) The department shall adopt a policy that requires each warden to identify volunteer and faith-based organizations that provide programs for inmates housed in facilities...
• Texas Section 501.010 - Visitors
  (a) In this section: (1) "Guardian" has the meaning assigned by Section 1002.012, Estates Code. (2) "Letters of guardianship" means a certificate issued under Section...
• Texas Section 501.011 - Zero-tolerance Policy
  (a) The department shall adopt a zero-tolerance policy concerning the detection, prevention, and punishment of the sexual abuse, including consensual sexual contact, of inmates in...
• Texas Section 501.012 - Family Liaison Officer
  The director of the institutional division shall designate one employee at each facility operated by the institutional division to serve as family liaison officer for...
• Texas Section 501.013 - Materials Used For Arts And Crafts
  (a) The institutional division may purchase materials to be used by inmates housed in facilities operated by the division to produce arts and crafts. (b)...
• Texas Section 501.014 - Inmate Money
  (a) The department shall take possession of all money that an inmate has on the inmate's person or that is received with the inmate when...
• Texas Section 501.015 - Providing Discharged Or Released Inmate With Clothing And Money; Burial Expenses
  (a) When an inmate is discharged or is released on parole, mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon, the department shall provide the inmate with: (1) suitable...
• Texas Section 501.016 - Discharge Or Release Papers; Release Date
  (a) The department shall prepare and provide an inmate with the inmate's discharge or release papers when the inmate is entitled to be discharged or...
• Texas Section 501.0165 - State-issued Identification; Necessary Documentation
  (a) Before discharging an inmate or releasing an inmate on parole, mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon, the department shall: (1) determine whether the inmate has:...
• Texas Section 501.017 - Cost Of Confinement As Claim
  (a) The department may establish a claim and lien against the estate of an inmate who dies while confined in a facility operated by or...
• Texas Section 501.019 - Cost Of Confinement As Claim; Setoff
  (a) The state may deduct from any monetary obligation owed to an incarcerated person: (1) the cost of incarceration, if a cost of incarceration for...
• Texas Section 501.021 - Use Of Inmates In Training Prohibited
  The department may not use an inmate in a program that trains dogs to attack individuals without the inmate's permission. Added by Acts 1995, 74th...
• Texas Section 501.022 - Infant Care And Parenting
  The department shall implement a residential infant care and parenting program for mothers who are confined by the department. To the extent practicable, the department...

SUBCHAPTER B GENERAL MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH CARE PROVISIONS

• Texas Section 501.023 - Information Concerning Foster Care History
  (a) The department, during the diagnostic process, shall assess each inmate with respect to whether the inmate has at any time been in the conservatorship...
• Texas Section 501.051 - Medical Facilities At University Of Texas Medical Branch
  (a) The medical facility constructed by the institutional division at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston shall be used as a teaching facility...
• Texas Section 501.052 - Medical Residencies
  The department may establish a residency program or a rotation program to employ or train physicians to treat inmates in the department. Added by Acts...
• Texas Section 501.053 - Reports Of Physician Misconduct
  (a) If the department receives an allegation that a physician employed or under contract with the department has committed an action that constitutes a ground...
• Texas Section 501.054 - Aids And Hiv Education; Testing
  (a) In this section, "AIDS," "HIV," and "test result" have the meanings assigned by Section 81.101, Health and Safety Code. (b) The department, in consultation...
• Texas Section 501.055 - Report Of Inmate Death
  (a) If an inmate dies while in the custody of the department, an employee of the facility who is in charge of the inmate shall...
• Texas Section 501.0551 - Anatomical Gifts
  (a) The department, during the diagnostic process, shall provide each inmate with a form on which the inmate may indicate whether the inmate wishes to...
• Texas Section 501.056 - Contract For Care Of Mentally Ill And Mentally Retarded Inmates
  The department shall contract with the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation for provision of Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation...
• Texas Section 501.057 - Civil Commitment Before Parole
  (a) The department shall establish a system to identify mentally ill inmates who are nearing eligibility for release on parole. (b) Not later than the...
• Texas Section 501.058 - Compensation Of Psychiatrists
  The amount of compensation paid by the institutional division to psychiatrists employed by the division should be similar to the amount of compensation authorized for...
• Texas Section 501.059 - Screening For And Education Concerning Fetal Alcohol Exposure During Pregnancy
  (a) The department shall establish a screening program to identify female inmates who are: (1) between the ages of 18 and 44; (2) sentenced to...
• Texas Section 501.060 - Tuberculosis Screening
  (a) The board will establish requirements for tuberculosis screening of department employees and volunteers in a manner similar to that established for jail employees and...
• Texas Section 501.061 - Orchiectomy For Certain Sex Offenders
  (a) A physician employed or retained by the department may perform an orchiectomy on an inmate only if: (1) the inmate has been convicted of...
• Texas Section 501.062 - Study Of Rate Of Recidivism Among Sex Offenders
  (a) The department shall conduct a long-term study, for at least 10 years after the date an orchiectomy is performed under Section 501.061, to measure...
• Texas Section 501.063 - Inmate Fee For Health Care
  (a) (1) An inmate confined in a facility operated by or under contract with the department, other than a halfway house, who initiates a visit...
• Texas Section 501.064 - Availability Of Correctional Health Care Information To Inmates
  The department shall ensure that the following information is available to any inmate confined in a facility operated by or under contract with the department:...
• Texas Section 501.065 - Consent To Medical, Dental, Psychological, And Surgical Treatment
  An inmate who is younger than 18 years of age and is confined in a facility operated by or under contract with the department may,...
• Texas Section 501.066 - Restraint Of Pregnant Inmate Or Defendant
  (a) The department may not use restraints to control the movement of a pregnant woman in the custody of the department at any time during...
• Texas Section 501.067 - Availability Of Certain Medication
  (a) In this section, "over-the-counter medication" means medication that may legally be sold and purchased without a prescription. (b) The department shall make over-the-counter medication...
• Texas Section 501.068 - Developmentally Disabled Offender Program
  (a) In this section, "offender" has the meaning assigned by Section 501.091. (b) The department shall establish and maintain a program for offenders: (1) who...

SUBCHAPTER C CONTINUITY OF CARE PROGRAMS; REENTRY PROGRAM

• Texas Section 501.068 - Mental Health Assessment For Certain Inmates
  (a) Before the department may confine an inmate in administrative segregation, an appropriate medical or mental health care professional must perform a mental health assessment...
• Texas Section 501.091 - Definitions
  In this subchapter: (1) "Correctional facility" means a facility operated by or under contract with the department. (2) "Offender" means an inmate or state jail...
• Texas Section 501.092 - Comprehensive Reentry And Reintegration Plan For Offenders
  (a) The department shall develop and adopt a comprehensive plan to reduce recidivism and ensure the successful reentry and reintegration of offenders into the community...
• Texas Section 501.0921 - Risk And Needs Assessment Instrument
  (a) The department shall adopt a standardized instrument to assess, based on criminogenic factors, the risks and needs of each offender within the adult criminal...
• Texas Section 501.093 - Inmates Suffering From Drug Or Alcohol Abuse
  (a) The department, the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, and the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse shall by rule adopt...
• Texas Section 501.0931 - In-prison Therapeutic Communities
  (a) The institutional division shall establish a program to confine and treat in in-prison therapeutic communities inmates determined by the division to have a history...
• Texas Section 501.095 - Inmates With History Of Chronic Unemployment
  (a) The department and the Texas Employment Commission shall by rule adopt a memorandum of understanding that establishes their respective responsibilities to establish a continuity...
• Texas Section 501.096 - Reentry Program For Long-term Inmates
  (a) The institutional division shall establish a program to assist inmates that have served long terms in preparing for their release from the division. (b)...
• Texas Section 501.097 - Reintegration Services
  (a) The department and the Texas Workforce Commission shall by rule adopt a memorandum of understanding that establishes their respective responsibilities for providing inmates who...
• Texas Section 501.0971 - Provision Of Reentry And Reintegration Information To Inmates
  (a) The department shall identify organizations that provide reentry and reintegration resource guides and shall collaborate with those organizations to prepare a resource guide that...
• Texas Section 501.098 - Reentry Task Force
  (a) The department shall establish a reentry task force and shall coordinate the work of the task force with the Office of Court Administration. The...
• Texas Section 501.099 - Family Unity And Participation
  (a) The department shall adopt and implement policies that encourage family unity while an offender is confined and family participation in an offender's post-release or...
• Texas Section 501.101 - Programs And Services For Wrongfully Imprisoned Persons Who Are Discharged
  (a) In this section, "wrongfully imprisoned person" means a person who: (1) has served in whole or in part a sentence in a facility operated...
• Texas Section 501.102 - Reentry And Reintegration Services For Wrongfully Imprisoned Persons
  (a) Repealed by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 698, Sec. 10, eff. June 17, 2011. (b) The department shall develop a comprehensive plan to...

SUBCHAPTER D INMATE HOUSING

• Texas Section 501.103 - Annual Report
  (a) Not later than December 31 of each year, the department's reentry and integration division and parole division shall jointly prepare and submit an annual...
• Texas Section 501.111 - Temporary Housing
  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) and Subsection (c), the institutional division may not house inmates in tents, cellblock runs, hallways, laundry distribution rooms,...
• Texas Section 501.112 - Mixing Classifications Prohibited
  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the institutional division may not house inmates with different custody classifications in the same cellblock or dormitory unless...

SUBCHAPTER E MANAGED HEALTH CARE

• Texas Section 501.113 - Triple-celling Prohibited; Single-celling Required For Certain Inmates
  (a) The institutional division may not house more than two inmates in a cell designed for occupancy by one inmate or two inmates. (b) The...
• Texas Section 501.131 - Definitions
  In this subchapter: (1) "Committee" means the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee. (2) "Contracting entity" means an entity that contracts with the department to provide...
• Texas Section 501.132 - Application Of Sunset Act
  The Correctional Managed Health Care Committee is subject to review under Chapter 325 (Texas Sunset Act) regarding the committee's role and responsibilities. The committee shall...
• Texas Section 501.133 - Committee Membership
  (a) The committee consists of nine voting members and one nonvoting member as follows: (1) one member employed full-time by the department, appointed by the...
• Texas Section 501.134 - Public Member Eligibility
  A person may not be a public member of the committee if the person or the person's spouse: (1) is employed by or participates in...
• Texas Section 501.135 - Membership And Employee Restrictions
  (a) In this section, "Texas trade association" means a cooperative and voluntarily joined association of business or professional competitors in this state designed to assist...
• Texas Section 501.136 - Appointment; Terms Of Office; Vacancy
  (a) The two committee members appointed under Section 501.133(a)(4) serve concurrent four-year terms expiring on February 1 following the fourth anniversary of the date of...
• Texas Section 501.137 - Presiding Officer
  The governor shall designate a public member of the committee who is licensed to practice medicine in this state as presiding officer. The presiding officer...
• Texas Section 501.138 - Grounds For Removal
  (a) It is a ground for removal from the committee that a member: (1) does not have at the time of taking office the qualifications...
• Texas Section 501.139 - Meetings
  (a) The committee shall meet at least once in each quarter of the calendar year and at any other time at the call of the...
• Texas Section 501.140 - Training
  (a) A person who is appointed to and qualifies for office as a member of the committee may not vote, deliberate, or be counted as...
• Texas Section 501.141 - Compensation; Reimbursement
  A committee member serves without compensation but is entitled to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of the duties of the...
• Texas Section 501.142 - Administration; Personnel
  The committee may hire a managed health care administrator, who may employ personnel necessary for the administration of the committee's duties. The committee shall pay...
• Texas Section 501.143 - Division Of Responsibilities
  The committee shall develop and implement policies that clearly separate the policy-making responsibilities of the committee and the management responsibilities of the managed health care...
• Texas Section 501.144 - Qualifications And Standards Of Conduct Information
  The managed health care administrator or the administrator's designee shall provide to members of the committee and to committee employees, as often as necessary, information...
• Texas Section 501.145 - Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
  (a) The managed health care administrator or the administrator's designee shall prepare and maintain a written policy statement that implements a program of equal employment...
• Texas Section 501.146 - Managed Health Care Plan
  (a) The committee shall develop and approve a managed health care plan for all persons confined by the department that: (1) specifies the types and...
• Texas Section 501.147 - Powers And Duties Of Department; Authority To Contract
  (a) The department, in cooperation with the contracting entities, shall: (1) establish a managed health care provider network of physicians and hospitals to provide health...
• Texas Section 501.1471 - Report
  (a) Not later than the 30th day after the end of each fiscal quarter, the department shall submit to the Legislative Budget Board and the...
• Texas Section 501.148 - General Powers And Duties Of Committee
  (a) The committee may: (1) develop statewide policies for the delivery of correctional health care; (2) serve as a dispute resolution forum in the event...
• Texas Section 501.1485 - Corrections Medication Aides
  (a) The department, in cooperation with any contracting entity that is a medical school, shall develop and implement a training program for corrections medication aides...
• Texas Section 501.149 - Disease Management Services
  (a) In this section, "disease management services" means services to assist an individual manage a disease or other chronic health condition, such as heart disease,...
• Texas Section 501.150 - Quality Of Care Monitoring By The Department And Health Care Providers
  (a) The committee shall establish a procedure for monitoring the quality of care delivered by the health care providers. Under the procedure, the department shall...
• Texas Section 501.151 - Complaints
  (a) The committee shall maintain a file on each written complaint filed with the committee by a member of the general public. The file must...
• Texas Section 501.152 - Public Participation
  The committee shall develop and implement policies that provide the public with a reasonable opportunity to appear before the committee and to speak on any...
• Texas Section 501.153 - Alternative Dispute Resolution
  (a) The committee shall develop and implement a policy to encourage the use of appropriate alternative dispute resolution procedures under Chapter 2009 to assist in...
• Texas Section 501.154 - Use Of Technology
  The committee shall implement a policy requiring the committee to use appropriate technological solutions to improve the committee's ability to perform its functions. The policy...
• Texas Section 501.155 - Availability Of Correctional Health Care Information To The Public
  (a) The committee shall ensure that the following information is available to the public: (1) contracts between the department, the committee, and health care providers,...

SUBCHAPTER F ELIMINATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AGAINST INMATES

• Texas Section 501.156 - Student Loan Repayment Assistance
  (a) From funds appropriated for purposes of correctional managed health care, the committee may provide student loan repayment assistance for medical and mental health care...
• Texas Section 501.171 - Definitions
  In this subchapter: (1) "Correctional facility" means a facility operated by or under contract with the department. (2) "Inmate" means an inmate or state jail...
• Texas Section 501.172 - Appointment Of Ombudsperson
  The board shall appoint an ombudsperson to coordinate the department's efforts to eliminate the occurrence of sexual assault in correctional facilities. The ombudsperson shall report...
• Texas Section 501.173 - Powers And Duties Of Ombudsperson
  (a) The ombudsperson shall: (1) monitor department policies for the prevention of sexual assault in correctional facilities; (2) oversee the administrative investigation of inmate complaints...
• Texas Section 501.174 - Department To Adopt Policy
  The department shall adopt a policy providing for: (1) a designated administrator at each correctional facility to post information throughout the facility describing how an...
• Texas Section 501.175 - Ombudsperson To Make Available To Public Certain Information
  The ombudsperson shall make available to the public and appropriate state agencies: (1) information regarding the powers and duties of the ombudsperson; and (2) statistical...
• Texas Section 501.176 - Annual Report
  (a) Not later than January 1 of each year, the ombudsperson shall submit a written report regarding the activities of the ombudsperson during the preceding...
• Texas Section 501.177 - State Auditor Audits, Investigations, And Access To Information Not Impaired
  This subchapter or other law related to the operation of the ombudsperson or the office of the inspector general does not prohibit the state auditor...
• Texas Section 501.178 - Authority Of State Auditor To Conduct Timely Audits Not Impaired
  This subchapter or other law related to the operation of the ombudsperson or the office of the inspector general does not take precedence over the...

Last modified: September 28, 2016