BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 905

By: Moody

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

State law provides for judges to grant credit toward a defendant's sentence in a criminal case for time confined in jail for that case. However, there are concerns regarding the application of the law with regard to a defendant who is charged in more than one criminal case, in which the defendant may be eligible for a time credit in one case but not another. H.B. 905 seeks to address this issue by requiring judges to grant credit toward a defendant's sentence for time confined in jail or prison for another case under certain circumstances.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 905 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require the judge of the court in which a defendant is convicted to give credit on the defendant's sentence for the time that the defendant spent confined in jail or prison for another case if that confinement occurred after the commission of the offense for which the defendant is convicted and before the date of the defendant's sentencing. The bill applies to a defendant who is sentenced for an offense on or after the bill's effective date, regardless of whether the offense is committed before, on, or after that date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.