Sec. 494.011. ASSESSMENT OF UNIT DESIGN AND SECURITY SYSTEMS

(a) In order to ensure that the institutional division is managed effectively, the division not less than once every three years shall assess the long-term administrative segregation and maximum security needs of the division. The institutional division shall report to the Legislative Criminal Justice Board the results of each assessment made under this section not later than one year after the assessment is completed.

(b) The institutional division shall include in the assessment:

(1) a feasibility study on the conversion of at least one maximum security facility into a medium security facility;

(2) a review of the division's unit design prototypes to determine whether the prototypes could be improved by:

(A) the use of new technologies;

(B) redesign of interiors and exteriors to improve visibility within the prototypes; or

(C) the use of other cost-saving measures;

(3) a feasibility study on increased use of closed-circuit camera technology, electronic perimeter detection technology, or other electronic technology; and

(4) a review of any other issues the division determines are relevant to the continued improvement and cost-effectiveness of the system's security system.

(c) The institutional division shall include in the report to the Legislative Criminal Justice Board required by Subsection (a) with the results of the assessment:

(1) a description, with documentation, of the distribution of levels of security within the institutional division;

(2) a comparison of the distribution of levels of security within the division to the distribution of levels of security in prisons in other states; and

(3) if there is a disparity between the distribution of levels of security within the institutional division and that in prisons in other states, a discussion of whether that disparity is in the best interest of the institutional division.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 238, Sec. 3.01, eff. May 22, 1993.