Government Code § 508.146

Sec. 508.146. MEDICALLY RECOMMENDED INTENSIVE SUPERVISION. (a) Subject to Subsection (b), an inmate, other than an inmate who is serving a sentence of death or life without parole or an inmate who is not a citizen of the United States, as defined by federal law, may be released on medically recommended intensive supervision on a date designated by a parole panel described by Subsection (e) if: (1) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee, identifies the inmate as: (A) being elderly, regardless of whether the inmate has a condition described in Paragraphs (B)-(H); (B) being terminally ill; (C) having a mental illness; (D) having an intellectual disability or a physical disability; (E) having a condition requiring long-term care; (F) being in a persistent vegetative state; (G) having an organic brain syndrome with significant to total mobility impairment; or (H) having another eligible medical condition as prescribed by board rule; (2) the parole panel determines that, based on the inmate's condition and a medical evaluation, the inmate does not constitute a threat to public safety; and (3) the inmate's medically recommended intensive supervision plan under Subsection (a-1) is approved by the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments. (a-1) The Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the division, shall prepare for an inmate who is approved for release under Subsection (a) a medically recommended intensive supervision plan that requires the inmate to submit to electronic monitoring, places the inmate on super-intensive supervision, or otherwise ensures appropriate supervision of the inmate. (b) In addition to the requirements of Subsection (a), the following inmates may be released on medically recommended intensive supervision under that subsection only if the inmates are identified under Subsection (a)(1) as: (1) having a condition described by Subsection (a)(1)(B) or (E), if the inmate has an instant offense that is described in Article 42A.054, Code of Criminal Procedure; or (2) being in or having a condition described by Subsection (a)(1)(F) or (G), if the inmate has a reportable conviction or adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure. (c) The parole panel shall require as a condition of release under Subsection (a) that the releasee remain under the care of a physician and in a medically suitable placement. At least once each calendar quarter, the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments shall report to the parole panel on the releasee's medical and placement status. On the basis of the report, the parole panel may modify conditions of release and impose any condition on the releasee that a panel could impose on a releasee released under Section 508.145, including a condition that the releasee reside in a halfway house or community residential facility. (d) The Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments may request proposals from public or private vendors to provide under contract services for inmates released on medically recommended intensive supervision. A request for proposals under this subsection may require that the services be provided in a medical care facility located in an urban area. For the purposes of this subsection, "urban area" means the area in this state within a metropolitan statistical area, according to the standards of the United States Bureau of the Census. (e) Parole panels composed of board members and parole commissioners appointed to the panel by the presiding officer may make determinations regarding the release of inmates on medically recommended intensive supervision under Subsection (a) or of inmates released pending deportation under Subsection (f). If the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments identifies an inmate as a candidate for release under the guidelines established by Subsection (a)(1), (b), or (f)(1), as applicable, the office shall present to a parole panel described by this subsection relevant information concerning the inmate and the inmate's potential for release under this section. (f) An inmate who is not a citizen of the United States, as defined by federal law, who is not under a sentence of death or life without parole, and who does not have a reportable conviction or adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, or an instant offense described in Article 42A.054, Code of Criminal Procedure, may be released to immigration authorities pending deportation on a date designated by a parole panel described by Subsection (e) if: (1) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee, identifies the inmate as being in or having a condition described by Subsection (a)(1); and (2) the parole panel determines that on release the inmate would be deported to another country and that the inmate does not constitute a threat to public safety in the other country or this country and is unlikely to reenter this country illegally. (g) The board shall adopt rules to administer this section. The rules must: (1) specify the procedures for evaluating the prognosis of inmates who are eligible for medically recommended intensive supervision under Subsection (a) because of a qualifying medical condition; (2) specify the factors, other than an inmate's condition, that are relevant or statutorily required to release an inmate on medically recommended intensive supervision; and (3) define what constitutes a threat to public safety for purposes of Subsections (a)(2) and (f) and specify the factors that a parole panel described by Subsection (e) must consider when determining whether an inmate constitutes a threat to public safety. (h) The procedures described by Subsection (g)(1) must: (1) require a review of the inmate's condition by at least one health care practitioner; and (2) require each health care practitioner who reviews an inmate's condition as described by Subdivision (1) to provide the parole panel described by Subsection (e), before the panel makes a final determination under this section, a written report on the inmate's condition that: (A) is in plain language that is understandable by a nonmedical professional; (B) specifically describes how the inmate's condition and treatment for the condition will affect the inmate's cognitive and physical abilities and limitations; and (C) contains other information as required by the board. (i) The board may consult with other relevant entities for purposes of establishing information required in the report under Subsection (h)(2)(C) including: (1) the Correctional Managed Health Care Committee; (2) the division; (3) the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments; (4) the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center; and (5) The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. (j) Information regarding the identity of a health care practitioner providing a report described by Subsection (h)(2), other than information relating to the practitioner's specialization, is excepted from required disclosure under Chapter 552. The board may release the information or redact or otherwise withhold the information from disclosure under Chapter 552. Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 12.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1435, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 252, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 856, Sec. 21, eff. Sept. 1, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 787 (S.B. 60), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2005. Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1247 (H.B. 2611), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007. Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 770 (H.B. 2299), Sec. 2.52, eff. January 1, 2017. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1022 (S.B. 2405), Sec. 85, eff. September 1, 2025.