Committee hears bill to require reporting agreements, background checks for residential child detention facilities
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Summary
The Senate Committee on Local Government heard House Bill 3120, which would require residential child detention facility operators to sign memoranda of understanding with local governments and submit regular safety, occupancy and incident reports.
The Senate Committee on Local Government heard House Bill 3120, a proposal that would require owners or operators of residential child detention facilities to enter into memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the municipality or county that regulates the facility and to provide routine reports to local authorities.
Sponsor testimony stressed concerns about alleged abuse, staffing practices and inadequate communication between facilities and local health, law enforcement, and education authorities. The bill would require operators to provide local governing bodies or county commissioners courts with a description of illness‑prevention methods, an emergency evacuation plan, an education plan for resident children, quarterly compliance and safety reports, monthly occupancy records to municipal police or the county sheriff, and quarterly incident report summaries.
Representative Kitzman’s House‑passed measure was presented to the committee by the Senate sponsor. The sponsor said the bill also requires facilities that receive at least 10% of operating expenses from state funds to conduct criminal history background checks on all personnel and grants facilities limited access to criminal‑history record information from the Department of Public Safety for hiring evaluation purposes only. The bill would make failure to comply a condition of ineligibility for state funding until an audit is completed.
Sheena Rodriguez testified in support on her own behalf and told the committee about national allegations involving several operators and abuses of unaccompanied minors, citing Department of Justice allegations that had been filed in recent years. Rodriguez said HB 3120 is “long overdue” to safeguard children and improve government oversight and efficiency.
Sponsor remarks noted that federal policy changes — including a referenced reduction in unaccompanied minors under Operation Lone Star — have affected facility populations but said that state and local oversight must still ensure safety. The committee opened the bill to public testimony, heard from two witnesses, and left HB 3120 pending for further consideration.
