Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 381 amends provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure relating to deferred adjudication and community supervision to provide that a judge may place a defendant charged with certain sexual offenses on community supervision only if it is found to be in the best interest of the victim. The act requires that if a defendant has been previously convicted of two felony offenses and at least one is a specified sexual offense, a dismissal and discharge of the defendant from community supervision is to be deemed a conviction for purposes of legal disqualifications imposed for conviction of an offense. The act prohibits the granting of deferred adjudication when the defendant is charged with specific offenses including certain intoxication offenses, certain offenses committed in drug-free zones, and certain sexual offenses. The act provides that sentences given for designated sexual offenses that arise out of the same criminal episode may run concurrently or consecutively and that, in the case of certain consolidated sexual offenses, a defendant does not have the right to a severance of the offenses.

            The act amends provisions of the Penal Code relating to penalties for repeat and habitual felony offenders to define "previously convicted" to include a defendant who has been adjudged guilty or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of deferred adjudication and a defendant who has been convicted of similar offenses in another state.