H.B. No. 2620
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the confinement in a county jail of a person pending a
  transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and to
  compensation to a county for certain costs of confinement.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 499.071, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 499.071.  SCHEDULED ADMISSIONS POLICY. The board shall
  adopt and enforce a scheduled admissions policy that requires
  [permits] the department [institutional division] to:
               (1)  review documents received under Section 8(a) or
  (c), Article 42.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, and certify the
  documents or notify the county that the documents require
  corrective action within the time period required by Section 8(b)
  of that article; and
               (2)  accept persons [inmates] within the time period
  [45 days of processing as] required by Section 499.1215(b)
  [499.121(c)].
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter F, Chapter 499, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 499.1215 to read as follows:
         Sec. 499.1215.  TRANSFER TO DEPARTMENT; COMPENSATION TO
  COUNTIES. (a) In this section, "cost of confinement" means the
  amount that would have been incurred by the department to confine a
  person.  The term does not include costs for medical, behavioral, or
  pharmaceutical care.
         (b)  The department shall take custody of a person awaiting
  transfer to the department following conviction of a felony and
  sentencing to death or to a term of imprisonment in the department
  or confinement in a state jail not later than the 45th day following
  the date on which all documents required by Sections 8(a) and (c),
  Article 42.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, have been certified as
  required by Section 8(b) of that article.
         (c)  If the department does not take custody of a person
  within the period prescribed by Subsection (b), the department
  shall compensate the county for the cost of confinement for each day
  the person remains confined in the county jail following the
  expiration of that period.
         (d)  If a person remains confined in the county jail
  following the expiration of the period prescribed by Subsection (b)
  due to a delay caused by the county:
               (1)  the county is not entitled to compensation under
  Subsection (c) for any day that the person remains confined due to
  the delay caused by the county; and
               (2)  the county and the department shall arrange to
  transfer the person to the department as soon as practicable after
  the delay.
         SECTION 3.  Section 8, Article 42.09, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding
  Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
         (b)  The Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall not take
  a defendant into custody under this article until the designated
  officer receives the documents required by Subsections (a) and (c)
  of this section and determines that the documents do not contain any
  errors or deficiencies requiring corrective action by the county.  
  Not later than the fifth business day after the date of receipt of
  [The designated officer shall certify under the seal of the
  department] the documents, the designated officer shall:
               (1)  certify the documents under the seal of the
  department if the designated officer determines the documents do
  not require any corrective action; or
               (2)  notify the county that the designated officer has
  determined that the documents require corrective action [received
  under Subsections (a) and (c) of this section].
         (b-1)  A document certified under Subsection (b) [this
  subsection] is self-authenticated for the purposes of Rules 901 and
  902, Texas Rules of Evidence.
         SECTION 4.  Section 499.121(c), Government Code, is
  repealed.
         SECTION 5.  Not later than September 30, 2023, the Texas
  Board of Criminal Justice shall adopt the scheduled admissions
  policy required by Section 499.071, Government Code, as amended by
  this Act.
         SECTION 6.  Section 499.1215, Government Code, as added by
  this Act, applies only to compensation to a county for the costs
  described by that section related to the confinement of a person
  that occurs on or after October 1, 2023, regardless of whether the
  requirements under that section for transfer of the person to the
  Texas Department of Criminal Justice are completed before, on, or
  after that date.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2620 was passed by the House on April
  21, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 139, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 2620 on May 25, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 143, Nays 0,
  2 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2620 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 21, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor