Art. 43.10.  MANUAL LABOR.  Where the punishment assessed in a conviction for a misdemeanor is confinement in jail for more than one day or is only a pecuniary fine and the defendant is unable to pay the fine and costs adjudged against the defendant, or where the defendant is sentenced to jail for a felony or is confined in jail after conviction of a felony, the defendant shall be required to work in the county jail industries program or shall be required to do manual labor in accordance with the following rules and regulations:
1.  Each commissioners court may provide for the erection of a workhouse and the establishment of a county farm in connection therewith for the purpose of utilizing the labor of defendants under this article;
2.  Such farms and workhouses shall be under the control and management of the sheriff, and the sheriff may adopt such rules and regulations not inconsistent with the rules and regulations of the Commission on Jail Standards and with the laws as the sheriff deems necessary;
3.  Such overseers and guards may be employed by the sheriff under the authority of the commissioners court as may be necessary to prevent escapes and to enforce such labor, and they shall be paid out of the county treasury such compensation as the commissioners court may prescribe;
4.  They shall be put to labor upon public works and maintenance projects, including public works and maintenance projects for a political subdivision located in whole or in part in the county.  They may be put to labor upon maintenance projects for a cemetery that the commissioners court uses public funds, county employees, or county equipment to maintain under Section 713.028, Health and Safety Code.  They may also be put to labor providing maintenance and related services to a nonprofit organization that qualifies for a tax exemption under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as an organization described by Section 501(c)(3) of that code, and is organized as a nonprofit corporation under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-1.01 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), provided that, at the sheriff's request, the commissioners court determines that the nonprofit organization provides a public service to the county or to a political subdivision located in whole or in part in the county;
5.  A defendant who from age, disease, or other physical or mental disability is unable to do manual labor shall not be required to work.  The defendant's inability to do manual labor may be determined by a physician appointed for that purpose by the county judge or the commissioners court, who shall be paid for such service such compensation as said court may allow; and
6.  For each day of manual labor, in addition to any other credits allowed by law, a defendant is entitled to have one day deducted from each sentence the defendant is serving. 
Amended by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 2647, ch. 708, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 31, 1981;  Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 753, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1989;  Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 785, Sec. 4.14, eff. Sept. 1, 1989;  Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 900, Sec. 2, eff. Aug. 26, 1991;  Subsec. (a) amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 2nd C.S., ch. 10, Sec. 14.09, eff. Oct. 1, 1991.  Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 578, Sec. 3, eff. June 11, 1993;  Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 900, Sec. 5.04, eff. Sept. 1, 1993;  Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 3.19, eff. Sept. 1, 1995;  Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 321, Sec. 3.015, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
Amended by: 
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 853 (S.B. 951), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2005.
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1187 (H.B. 129), Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2005.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 854 (S.B. 2340), Sec. 3, eff. June 19, 2009.