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Texas Senate Bill 1849 "The Sandra Bland Act"
Texas Senate Bill 1849, commonly referred to as "The Sandra Bland Act,” was passed into law on September 1, 2017 and mandated change to corrections and police policy when dealing with those with substance abuse or mental health concerns.  S.B. 1849 “requires de-escalation training for police officers and mandates county jails divert people with mental health and substance abuse issues toward treatment, makes it easier for defendants to receive a personal bond if they have a mental illness or intellectual disability, and requires that independent law enforcement agencies investigate jail deaths.”

Police officers are required to complete comprehensive racial profiling training and forty hours of de-escalation training. Law enforcement agencies will maintain records documenting race or ethnicity of all persons detained and whether the officer knew the individual’s race or ethnicity prior to being detained. In addition, police officers will undergo training to limit uses of force. All law enforcement agencies are required to provide education to the public concerning complaint procedures.

County jails are required to collect information used to make a determination of mental illness or intellectual disability. A written assessment of collected information will be submitted to a magistrate and mental health expert if a potential substance abuse, mental illness or intellectual disability exists. If need arises and is reasonable, pending charges may be suspended and individual may be diverted to a treatment facility. In the event of a death in custody, the custodial agency shall begin an investigation until such a time a representative of an outside agency is on scene. In addition, electronic monitoring shall be in place to ensure timely security checks for the welfare of those incarcerated.