37 TAC §163.21
The Texas Board of Criminal Justice proposes amendments
to §163.21, concerning Administration. The proposed amendments
are necessary to add clarity and conform to state law.
Jerry McGinty, Chief Financial Officer for the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice, has determined that for each year of the first
five years the rule will be in effect, enforcing or administering
the rule will not have foreseeable implications related to costs or
revenues for state or local government.
Mr. McGinty has also determined that, for the first five year period,
there will not be an economic impact on persons required to comply
with the rule. There will not be an adverse economic impact on small
or micro businesses. Therefore, no regulatory flexibility analysis
is required. The anticipated public benefit, as a result of enforcing
the rule, is to ensure consistency in the manner in which community
supervision and corrections departments are administered across the state.
Comments should be directed to Melinda Hoyle Bozarth, General Counsel,
Texas Department of Criminal Justice, P.O. Box 13084, Austin, Texas
78711, Melinda.Bozarth@tdcj.state.tx.us. Written comments from the
general public should be received within 30 days of the publication
of this proposal.
The amendments are proposed under Texas Government Code §509.003.
Cross Reference to Statutes: Texas Government Code §§76.002,
76.005 and 76.016.
§163.21.Administration.
(a) Appointment and Responsibilities of a Community
Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD or department) [
CSCD] Director.
(1) When there is a vacancy in the
position of CSCD director, the judge or judges as described by Texas
Government Code §76.002 shall:
(A) Publicly advertise the position;
(B) Post a job description, the qualifications for
the position and the application requirements;
(C) Conduct a competitive hiring process and adhere
to state and federal equal employment opportunity laws; and
(D) Review applicants who meet the posted qualifications
and comply with the application requirements.
(2) The [district] judge or judges
as described by Texas Government Code §76.002 shall appoint
a CSCD director[,] who shall meet, at a minimum, the [
same] eligibility requirements for [
criteria as a] community supervision officers (CSOs) established under [
officer (CSO) as cited in the] Texas Government Code §76.005[
,] and 37 Texas Administrative Code §163.33
[of this title] (relating to CSOs).
(3) The [It is the responsibility
of the] CSCD director shall [
to apply state,
local, and other available resources to
] employ a sufficient
number of officers and other employees to
conduct pre-sentence
investigations, supervise and rehabilitate defendants placed on community
supervision, enforce the conditions of community supervision and staff
community corrections facilities. A person employed under this subsection
is an employee of the department and not of the judges or judicial
districts. [perform the professional and clerical work
of the department as required by law, TDCJ-CJAD standards, and local
community corrections needs as identified in the local community justice
plan.]
(4) The Texas Department of Criminal
Justice Community Justice Assistance Division (TDCJ-CJAD)
[TDCJ-CJAD] director shall [
is to] be notified by
the administrative judge of the appointment of a CSCD director.
(5) The CSCD director shall perform
or delegate the responsibility for performing the following duties:
(A) Overseeing the daily operations of the department;
(B) Preparing, annually or biennially, a budget for the department;
(C) Negotiating and entering into contracts on behalf
of the department;
(D) Establishing policies and procedures for all functions
of the department;
(E) Developing personnel policies and procedures, including
disciplinary proceedings; and
(F) Establishing procedures and practices through which
the department will address an employment-related grievance.
(b) Administrative Manual. The CSCD director [
directors] shall be responsible for developing,
updating, revising and maintaining [
the development of] an administrative manual
that defines the CSCD's [defining
] general purposes and functional objectives. The CSCD
director shall ensure the administrative manual is available to all
staff members and[, incorporating all written policies
and procedures, assuring that they are made available to all staff
members. The operational section should give a detailed description
of the procedures followed in performing the routine tasks of the
department. The policies and procedures shall be reviewed by the CSCD
director periodically and revised as necessary. The CSCD director
shall] provide the TDCJ-CJAD director with a copy of the CSCD's
administrative manual for review upon request. The manual shall
incorporate all of the written policies and procedures, which shall
provide a detailed description of the procedures followed in performing
the routine tasks of the department. At a minimum, the [when
requested. These] policies and procedures in the manual shall
include[, at a minimum]:
(1) Human Resources.
(A) Recruitment [recruitment] procedures;
(B) Promotion requirements [promotional
requirement] and procedures;
(C) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) [
EEOC]/affirmative action provisions;
(D) Provisions [provisions] of
the Americans [American]
with Disabilities Act;
(E) Provisions [provisions] of
the Fair Labor Standards Act;
(F) Provisions [provisions] of
the Family Medical Leave Act;
(G) Sexual [sexual] harassment policy;
(H) Confidentiality [confidentiality]
of information;
(I) Organizational [organizational]
plan/chart;
(J) Salary [salary] scales;
(K) Benefits [benefits];
(L) Holidays [holidays] and work
schedules;
(M) Explanation [explanation]
of amount and limitations of leaves;
(N) Personnel [personnel] records;
(O) Employee [employee] performance
appraisals;
(P) Disciplinary [disciplinary]
procedures;
(Q) Grievance [grievance] procedures;
(R) Probationary [probationary]
employment periods;
(S) Contract [contract/temporary]
employees;
(T) Dress [dress] code;
(U) Pre-employment [pre-employment]
criminal record checks;
(V) Staff [staff] safety;
(W) Political [political] participation;
(X) Travel/mileage [travel/mileage]
reimbursement policy; and
(Y) Immigration Reform and Control Act.
(2) Medical.
(A) Medical [medical] and psychological
records management;
(B) Contagious [contagious] disease
policy, including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) [
HIV-AIDS]; and
(C) Tuberculosis [tuberculosis]
and other communicable diseases.
(3) Supervision
(A) Supervision description [Description];
(B) Assessment [assessment] and
remediation of literacy skills for offenders;
(C) Arrest [arrest] and firearms
policy and procedures; and
(D) Pre-sentencing [pre-sentencing]
investigation and reporting policy and procedures.
(4) Standards.
(A) Code of ethics;
(B) Training [training] and staff
development;
(C) Job [job
] descriptions, qualifications,
and responsibilities;
(D) Insurance [insurance] and
honesty bonds;
(E) Intrastate [intrastate] and
interstate compact policies and procedures;
(F) Case [case] classification
and case management;
(G) Supervision [supervision]
of offenders/continuum of sanctions (policy and procedure);
(H) Internal [internal] case
management audit procedures; and
(I) Violation [violation] of
community supervision [probation
] order procedures.
(c) Ethics. The CSCD director [
directors] shall provide each CSCD employee with a copy of the
Code of Ethics adopted by the TDCJ-CJAD and a copy of the procedure
developed by the CSCD director that shall [
to] be used to review and investigate an [
in reviewing and investigating any] alleged
ethics violation. All employees of the CSCD
shall [must] comply
with the Code of Ethics developed by the TDCJ-CJAD.
(d) Internal Audits. Each CSCD [CSCDs]
shall have a designated procedure to monitor the skill levels and
training needs of individual staff members and
shall develop a plan to meet [
for meeting] those needs. Internal
audits of direct supervision cases shall be conducted [
of direct supervision cases
] to check for standards compliance,
use [utilization] of case classification[
,] and supervision planning.
(e) Records. The CSCD director [directors
] shall ensure that program records and statistical
data consistent with the requirements of the law and TDCJ-CJAD standards
are maintained and provided to TDCJ-CJAD as required.
(f) Budget. The CSCD director shall prepare and operate
from a budget in a manner consistent with good accounting practices
and approved by the judge(s) of their judicial district. The budget
shall be submitted to the TDCJ-CJAD director in a format as required
and within the provisions as outlined in
37 Texas Administrative Code §163.43 [
of this title] (relating to Funding
and Financial Management).
(g) Multi-Department Districts.
(1) Judicial districts composed of more than one (1) county
may apply to the TDCJ-CJAD director for authorization to establish
more than one (1) CSCD within the judicial district. The
application submitted by the judge(s) shall explain how the creation
of more than one (1) department will promote:
(A) Administrative [administrative]
convenience;
(B) Economy [economy]; or
(C) Improved [improved] community
supervision and corrections services[,
] and other reasons, if any.
(2) The application shall indicate the financial impact
and the approval of the judges in the judicial district or districts
hearing criminal cases affected by the change.
(h) Complaint Notice. Each CSCD shall notify the public,
offenders and victims of crimes, that they can direct written complaints
to the CSCD and/or TDCJ-CJAD. The notification shall be in the form
of a sign posted in a conspicuous public area in each of the CSCD's
offices, or shall be in the form of written brochures which are to
be displayed in a conspicuous public area in each of the CSCD's offices.
Signs and brochures [The signs/brochures] shall be
written in both English and Spanish and shall list the address of
the CSCD director and TDCJ-CJAD's address and shall inform persons
that attempts should first be made to resolve complaints locally;
unsatisfactory results may be reported to the TDCJ-CJAD.
(i) Compliance with [With] Statutes
and TDCJ-CJAD Policy Statements. The CSCD directors shall
ensure that all CSCD operations comply with all applicable local,
state[,] and federal laws and the TDCJ-CJAD
policy statements and official manuals pertaining to the CSCDs.
(j) Citizen Involvement and Volunteers. If volunteers
are used, the CSCD director shall ensure that suitable orientation
and supervision is provided in the functions they will be expected
to perform. The CSCDs [CSCDS] are encouraged
to establish and maintain opportunities for effective volunteer participation
in CSCD operations. If volunteers are used, the CSCD director shall:
(1) Ensure [ensure] that written
policy, procedure[,
] and practice exists for guiding the
selection and utilization of citizen involvement; and
(2) Require volunteers to acknowledge and comply with
all departmental rules governing the confidentiality of information.
(k) Victim Services. The criminal justice system recognizes
the many stakeholders affected by crime and wishes to acknowledge
crime victims' interests and right to be informed, heard and protected
by the system. With that goal in mind, standards are incorporated
to facilitate the participation of crime victims within community
supervision.
(1) Training. The CSCD Victim Services Coordinators
shall obtain not less than eight (8) [8
] documented hours of professional, skill-based [
skill based]
training within the first biennium of appointment to the position
of victim service coordinator. Training shall be specific to community
supervision and should include:
(A) Victims' rights [Victims Rights];
(B) Victim sensitivity [Sensitivity];
(C) Confidentiality issues [Issues]; and
(D) Crime victim compensation [Victims
Compensation].
(2) Policy and Procedures. Each CSCD shall adopt written
policies and procedures regarding victim notification of offenders
placed on community supervision and offender information that may
be released to victims.[:]
(A) Notifying the victim of the offender's crime,
or if the victim has a guardian or is deceased, notify the guardian
of the victim or close relative of the deceased victim, when the offender
is released and placed on community supervision. Notification shall
include the information specified in Texas Government Code §76.016,
which includes: [Victim notification of offenders placed
on community supervision; and]
(i) Notice the offender is being placed
on community supervision;
(ii) The conditions of community supervision
imposed by the court; and
(iii) The date, time and location
of any hearing or proceeding at which the conditions of the offender's
community supervision may be modified or the offender's placement
on community supervision may be revoked or terminated.
(B) Offender information that is public may
be released to victims. Such information includes:
[(3) Notification to victims would
include the information specified in Texas Government Code Annotated,
Section §76.016:]
[(A) The offender being placed on community supervision;]
[(B) The conditions of community supervision; and]
[(C) The date, time, and location of any hearing or
proceeding that would modify the conditions of supervision or the
offenders' placement on community supervision.]
[(4) Information that is public record
may be released to the victim. This would include:]
(i) [(A)] Court ordered community
supervision identifying the department with jurisdiction;
(ii) [(B)] A written copy of
the conditions of supervision;
(iii) [(C)] The name of the supervising officer;
(iv) [(D)] Victim service coordinator
contact information;
(v) [(E)] Motion to revoke supervision
being filed and the results of the motion;
(vi) [(F)] Information regarding
the transfer of an offender to another jurisdiction and
contact information; and
(vii) [(G)] Information that
the offender has been placed in residential confinement and
released [release] from confinement
, unless such confinement
is in a substance abuse treatment facility.
(3) [(5)] Other information that
may be released includes [
would include] information
that the victim would have knowledge of, such as:
(A) Uncollected/unpaid restitution [
Restitution not being paid]; and
(B) Sanctions for violating the terms and conditions
of supervision. [Additional sanctions for non-compliance
of the defendant.]
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal
has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's
legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on June 22, 2009.
TRD-200902554
Melinda Hoyle Bozarth
General Counsel
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Earliest possible date of adoption: August 2, 2009
For further information, please call: (936) 437-6003