37 TAC §155.23
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice adopts new §155.23
concerning site selection process for the location of additional facilities
with changes to the proposed text as published in the February 5, 1999, issue
of the
Texas Register
(24 TexReg 683).
The new section defines Agency policy for determining the location of new
TDCJ facilities in a manner that is fair and open, and that results in facilities
sites that are cost-effective for construction and operations, and sensitive
to the ultimate mission of the facilities sited.
The new section will enable the construction of additional facilities designed
to house and support offenders, as needed, considering all logistical support
requirements, operational concerns, and legal mandates, on State-owned property
or on land acquired at no cost to the State.
No public comments were received regarding adoption of the new section,
however, internal staff comments led to the addition of subsection (c)(6)
and the corollary deletion of the last sentence of proposed definition in
subsection (b)(3); these changes clarify the handling of additions to existing
facilities as items to be decided upon by the Board, but that are not subject
to the other procedures set out in the rule.
The new section is adopted under Texas Government Code, §492.013,
which grants general rulemaking authority; and Texas Government Code, §496.007.
§155.23.Site Selection Process for the Location of Additional Facilities.
(a)
Purpose. This rule establishes Agency policy for determining
the location of new TDCJ facilities in a manner that is fair and open, and
that results in facilities sites that are cost-effective for construction
and operations, and sensitive to the ultimate mission of the facilities sited.
Determining the location of a new facility (stand-alone facility or expansion
of an existing facility) designed to house and support offenders is a process
requiring the review and analysis of a number of factors, including cost-effectiveness,
logistical support requirements, operational concerns, and legal mandates.
Generally, funding priorities will dictate that such facilities be located
on State-owned property, or on land acquired at no cost to the State.
(b)
Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in
this Chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise.
(1)
Agency - The Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
(2)
Board - The Texas Board of Criminal Justice.
(3)
Facility - A substantially self-contained, permanently
constructed correctional facility for housing offenders. This includes prison
units, State jails, Substance Abuse Felony Punishment (SAFP) facilities, and
transfer facilities, but does not include intermediate sanction facilities,
community corrections facilities, as defined in §509.001, or facilities
defined in §§508.118, 508.119, or 508.320, of the Texas Government
Code.
(4)
Prison unit - Includes a private prison under Texas
Government Code, Chapter 495, Subchapter A, a psychiatric unit, or a facility
the capacity of which will be determined under, and regulated by Texas Government
Code, Chapter 499, Subchapters E (Unit and System Capacity), and B (Population
Management).
(5)
SAFP facility - A substance abuse felony punishment
facility authorized by Texas Government Code, §493.009.
(6)
State jail - A State jail felony facility authorized
by Texas Government Code, Chapter 507.
(7)
TDCJ - The Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
(8)
Transfer facility - A facility authorized by Texas
Government Code, Chapter 499, Subchapter G.
(c)
Procedures. It is the policy of the Board that the location
of any additional facility operated by the TDCJ be carefully considered in
accordance with this policy.
(1)
The Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council is the State
agency responsible for projecting the demand for prison, State jail, SAFP
and transfer facility beds. Based on these projections, a plan shall be developed
by staff and adopted by the Board that details how any additional bed needs
will be met. This plan will be presented to the legislature with a request
for appropriations. With respect to facilities requiring siting, the plan
adopted by the Board will include:
(A)
recommendations for specific types of facilities needed
by the TDCJ, the approximate size of each facility, and regional distribution
by facility type that is needed;
(B)
a description of the mission of the recommended facilities;
(C)
a description of the type of offenders to be housed in
each facility and the programming requirements for that population; and
(D)
any recommendations for redesignation and renovation of
existing facilities.
(2)
Site selections will be made in accordance with
and through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process, published in the Texas
Register. The RFP shall be formulated and issued under the direction of the
Board beginning immediately after the legislature has completed the appropriations
bill. The RFP will be based on the array of facilities authorized and appropriated
for by the legislature. For each round of site selections, an RFP will be
developed that specifies:
(A)
types of facilities needed;
(B)
minimum acreage and site characteristics requirements for
each facility type;
(C)
requirements for geotechnical information based on drilling
matrix and site preparation requirements;
(D)
requirements for verified documentation of the absence
of any environmental problems and historical preservation conditions;
(E)
requirements for supporting information such as easement,
utility and topographical maps;
(F)
requirements for description of land values, transferability
of mineral rights, surface leases, easements, title report, warranty deed,
aerial photographs and other issues affecting the timely transferability of
a site;
(G)
transportation and utility requirements; and
(H)
the requirements for solicited citizen input and State
and local elected official input regarding a specific site.
(3)
Staff review will be conducted under the direction
of the TDCJ Executive Director. Planning and Programming within the Facilities
Division will have the responsibility to coordinate the site selection process
for the Executive Director. In accordance with the Board approved criteria
and process, staff will be responsible for the development of the RFP, devising
and completing scoring instruments and cost analysis for Board review and
action. Information presented to the Board shall:
(A)
be structured in a uniform format as illustrated in the
Facilities Division policies and procedures;
(B)
include data from a weighted scoring evaluation system
that was developed before any review, and based on the Facilities Division
policies and procedures as well as on the requirements as outlined in an RFP,
that objectively assesses each site based on the proposal, site visit and
support information;
(C)
include life-cycle cost calculations for a specific time
period for each responsive proposal; and
(D)
identify and explain any deviations from the approved process.
(4)
Any selection process shall take into consideration
the intent of the legislature to locate each facility:
(A)
in close proximity to a county with 100,000 or more inhabitants
to provide services and other resources provided in such a county;
(B)
cost-effectively with respect to its proximity to other
facilities in TDCJ;
(C)
in close proximity to an area that would facilitate release
of offenders or persons to their area of residence;
(D)
in close proximity to an area that provides adequate educational
opportunities and medical care;
(E)
in close proximity to an area that would be capable of
providing hospital and specialty clinic medical services, as well as a sufficient
pool of medical personnel from which to recruit and contract; and
(F)
on State-owned or donated land.
(5)
The Board is responsible for site selection,
but may request that the staff provide a short list of recommended sites or
a preference ranking of sites with an explanation for the recommendation or
ranking. Staff recommendations shall be based on scoring of the information
contained in each submitted proposal based on RFP requirements, actual site
assessment, and information obtained from external and internal sources for
each site.
(6)
Additions to existing facilities subject to Board
decision under this subsection are not governed by the procedures in this
rule for new facilities. Staff shall make recommendations, and the Board shall
make the site selection decision, for additions to existing facilities if
the Board would not otherwise be responsible for the decision under this rule
or §152.12 of this title (relating to Methodology for Changing Maximum
Unit and System Population), and:
(A)
the addition will increase the monthly gross payroll of
the facility it is added to by $500,000 or more; or
(B)
staff has reason to know that the Board should make the
site selection decision.
This agency hereby certifies that the adoption
has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be a valid exercise of the
agency's legal authority.
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on May
24, 1999.
TRD-9903005
Carl Reynolds
General Counsel
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Effective date: June 13, 1999
Proposal publication date: February 5, 1999
For further information, please call: (512) 463-9693