Ankle monitor legislation spurred by deadly shooting at Dallas hospital announced | CPT PPP Coverage

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Proposed legislation could result in harsher penalties for people who cut off their ankle monitors and require notification to law-enforcement and other officials when a parolee is allowed to visit a hospital.

The bill, announced Monday in Dallas by local and state officials, was spurred by a shooting at Methodist Dallas Medical Center in October that killed nurse Katie Annette Flowers and social worker Jacqueline Ama Pokuaa.

The accused gunman, Nestor Hernandez, was a parolee with an ankle monitor who had permission to be at the hospital for the birth of his child, officials said. He had previously cut off his monitor. Methodist Health System’s police chief has said the police had no warning Hernandez would be at the hospital.

The killings resulted in widespread scrutiny over the use of ankle monitors, which were criticized by Dallas police, prosecutors, the ACLU, researchers and residents. In January, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Board of Pardons and Paroles released a report recommending a criminal charge for people who cut off ankle monitors and that law enforcement prioritize arrest warrants for parolees under the highest level of supervision. Cutting off an ankle monitor is currently not a criminal offense, but rather an administrative violation.

One of the bills, HB 3547, was authored by Dallas Democratic state Rep. Rafael Anchía. He said officials tried to analyze “the last best chances for us to avoid this tragedy,” adding that the legislation has bipartisan support.

If the legislation is passed, parolees who cut off their ankle monitor would face a felony charge and also would need to serve the rest of their sentence, Anchía said.

“What happened at Methodist was so shocking and so alarming, and the failures so great, that I’ve got Republican House members walking up to me, Democratic House members walking up to me, all asking me to sign on to this bill,” Anchía said. “So I think there’s going to be substantial momentum.”

Hernandez, who is charged with capital murder in the fatal hospital shooting, was paroled in October 2021 after he served 80% of an eight-year prison sentence. He had previously violated curfew, but only spent 12 days in jail because of insufficient evidence, officials said. He later cut off his ankle monitor, which led to an additional 100 days confinement in the months before the Methodist shooting.

Police said Hernandez accused his girlfriend of cheating on him, assaulted her, then shot Pokuaa when she went into the room to provide routine patient services. Flowers then looked inside the room and also was shot, police said.

The legislation will be named after Pokuaa and Flowers, Anchía said.