Sec. 508.146.  MEDICALLY RECOMMENDED INTENSIVE SUPERVISION.  (a)  An inmate other than an inmate who is serving a sentence of death or life without parole may be released on medically recommended intensive supervision on a date designated by a parole panel described by Subsection (e), except that an inmate with an instant offense that is an offense described in Article 42A.054, Code of Criminal Procedure, or an inmate who has a reportable conviction or adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, may only be considered if a medical condition of terminal illness or long-term care has been diagnosed by a physician, 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:
(A)  a person who is elderly or terminally ill, a person with mental illness, an intellectual disability, or a physical disability, or a person who has a condition requiring long-term care, if the inmate is an inmate with an instant offense that is described in Article 42A.054, Code of Criminal Procedure; or
(B)  in a persistent vegetative state or being a person with an organic brain syndrome with significant to total mobility impairment, if the inmate is an inmate who has a reportable conviction or adjudication under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(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 Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments, in cooperation with the pardons and paroles division, has prepared for the inmate 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)  An inmate may be released on medically recommended intensive supervision only if the inmate's medically recommended intensive supervision plan under Subsection (a)(3) is approved by the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments.
(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 and the Texas Department of Human Services shall jointly 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)  Only parole panels composed of the presiding officer of the board and two members 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.  If the Texas Council on Offenders with Mental Impairments identifies an inmate as a candidate for release under the guidelines established by Subsection (a)(1), the council 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 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.
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.