By Greenberg, et al. H.B. No. 554
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the operations of the pardons and paroles division of
1-3 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; providing penalties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 4A to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 4A. PROHIBITED REPRESENTATION. (a) A person serving
1-8 as a member of the board or the Texas Board of Criminal Justice may
1-9 not, for a period of six years after the date the person ceases to
1-10 be a board member, directly or indirectly represent any person in a
1-11 matter before the Board of Pardons and Paroles or a panel of the
1-12 board or receive compensation for services rendered on behalf of
1-13 any person regarding a matter pending before the board or a panel
1-14 of the board.
1-15 (b) A person, other than a person subject to Subsection (a)
1-16 of this section, who is employed by the Texas Department of
1-17 Criminal Justice may not, for a period of six years after the date
1-18 the person terminates service with the department, represent any
1-19 person in a matter before a panel of the board or the board or
1-20 receive compensation for services rendered on behalf of any person
1-21 regarding a matter pending before a panel of the board or the
1-22 board.
1-23 (c) A former member of the board or the Texas Board of
1-24 Criminal Justice or a former employee of the Texas Department of
2-1 Criminal Justice may not represent any person or receive
2-2 compensation for services rendered on behalf of any person
2-3 regarding a matter pending before the Board of Pardons and Paroles
2-4 or a panel of the board with which the former member or employee
2-5 was directly concerned during the period of membership or
2-6 employment, either through personal involvement or because the
2-7 matter was within the member's or employee's official
2-8 responsibility while associated with the board, the Texas Board of
2-9 Criminal Justice, or the department.
2-10 (d) A former member of the board or the Texas Board of
2-11 Criminal Justice or employee of the Texas Department of Criminal
2-12 Justice commits an offense if the former member or employee
2-13 violates this section. An offense under this subsection is a Class
2-14 A misdemeanor.
2-15 (e) A person may not represent any person in a matter before
2-16 the Board of Pardons and Paroles or a panel of the board or receive
2-17 compensation for services rendered on behalf of any person
2-18 regarding a matter pending before the board or a panel of the board
2-19 if the person:
2-20 (1) is a member of the legislature acting outside the
2-21 member's official capacity; or
2-22 (2) was a member of the legislature within the last
2-23 six years.
2-24 SECTION 2. Section 7, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
2-25 Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
2-26 (h) The board shall develop for its members a comprehensive
2-27 training and education program on the Texas criminal justice
3-1 system, with special emphasis on the parole process. All members
3-2 of the board shall attend a program described by this subsection.
3-3 A new member of the board shall attend, not later than the 30th day
3-4 after the date the person becomes a member of the board, a program
3-5 described by this subsection.
3-6 SECTION 3. Section 8, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
3-7 Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (o) to read as follows:
3-8 (o) The pardons and paroles division shall develop and
3-9 implement a comprehensive program to inform inmates and their
3-10 families about the parole process.
3-11 SECTION 4. Section 11, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
3-12 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
3-13 Sec. 11. REPRESENTATION OF INMATES <INFORMATION AND
3-14 ARGUMENTS>. (a) The Texas Board of Criminal Justice shall adopt
3-15 rules as to:
3-16 (1) the submission and presentation of information and
3-17 arguments to parole panels and the pardons and paroles division for
3-18 and in behalf of inmates; and
3-19 (2) the time, place, and manner of contact between a
3-20 person representing an inmate and an employee of the pardons and
3-21 paroles division <any person within the jurisdiction of a panel or
3-22 the division>.
3-23 (b) A person must register with the ethics commission under
3-24 Subsection (g) of this section if the person represents an inmate
3-25 for compensation <All persons presenting information or arguments
3-26 to a panel or the division shall submit therewith an affidavit
3-27 stating whether any fee has been paid or is to be paid for their
4-1 services in the case, the amount of such fee, and by whom such fee
4-2 is paid or to be paid>.
4-3 (c) A person required to register under this section shall
4-4 file a fee affidavit with the pardons and paroles division in a
4-5 form prescribed by the division for each inmate the person
4-6 represents for compensation prior to the time the person first
4-7 contacts a member of the board or employee of the pardons and
4-8 paroles division on behalf of the inmate.
4-9 (d) The fee affidavit must be written and verified and
4-10 contain:
4-11 (1) the registrant's full name and address;
4-12 (2) the registrant's normal business, business phone
4-13 number, and business address;
4-14 (3) the full name of any person associated with,
4-15 employed by, or contracting with the registrant who previously was
4-16 a member of the board or the Texas Board of Criminal Justice or
4-17 was an employee of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice;
4-18 (4) the full name and institutional identification
4-19 number of the inmate the registrant represents;
4-20 (5) the amount of compensation the person has received
4-21 or expects to receive in exchange for the representation; and
4-22 (6) the name of the person making the compensation.
4-23 (e) The division shall, not later than the third day after
4-24 the date the fee affidavit is filed, place a copy of the affidavit
4-25 in the file of an inmate that a parole panel or the board reviews.
4-26 The division shall also keep a copy of each fee affidavit in a file
4-27 in a central location.
5-1 (f) If a person that has registered under this section
5-2 receives compensation in excess of the amount reported on the fee
5-3 affidavit, the person must file with the pardons and paroles
5-4 division, not later than the fifth day after the date the person
5-5 receives the additional compensation, a supplemental fee affidavit
5-6 in a form prescribed by the division indicating the total amount of
5-7 compensation received for representing that inmate. The division
5-8 shall follow the procedures in Subsection (e) of this section to
5-9 process the supplemental affidavit.
5-10 (g) Except as provided in Subsection (i) of this section, a
5-11 person required to register under this section shall, for each
5-12 calendar year the person represents an inmate, file a
5-13 representation summary form with the ethics commission on a form
5-14 prescribed by the commission and pay an annual registration fee of
5-15 $100 to the commission. The form must be filed not later than the
5-16 last day of January in the year following the reporting period and
5-17 include:
5-18 (1) the registrant's full name and address;
5-19 (2) the registrant's normal business, business phone
5-20 number, and business address;
5-21 (3) the full name of any person associated with,
5-22 employed by, or contracting with the registrant who previously was
5-23 a member of the board or Texas Board of Criminal Justice or was an
5-24 employee of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice;
5-25 (4) the full name and institutional identification
5-26 number of each inmate the registrant represented in the previous
5-27 calendar year; and
6-1 (5) the amount of compensation the person has received
6-2 for representing each inmate in the previous calendar year.
6-3 (h) If there is a change in the information required to be
6-4 reported by a registrant under this section, the registrant shall
6-5 file an amended statement reflecting the change with the commission
6-6 not later than 10 days after the change occurs.
6-7 (i) An attorney licensed in this state is not required to
6-8 register under this section.
6-9 (j) The ethics commission shall submit to the pardons and
6-10 paroles division a copy of each representation summary form that is
6-11 filed.
6-12 (k) A person commits an offense if a person is required to
6-13 register under Subsection (g) of this section or make a filing
6-14 under Subsection (f) of this section and the person fails to
6-15 register or make the filing. An offense under this subsection is a
6-16 Class A misdemeanor.
6-17 (l) Fees collected under this section shall be deposited to
6-18 the credit of a special fund in the state treasury to be known as
6-19 the representation of parolees fund. The legislature may
6-20 appropriate money from the fund only to the pardons and paroles
6-21 division or the ethics commission to administer this section.
6-22 (m) In this section:
6-23 (1) "Compensation" has the meaning assigned by Section
6-24 305.002, Government Code.
6-25 (2) "Represent" means to contact in person or by
6-26 telephone, facsimile, or correspondence a member of the board or an
6-27 employee of the pardons and paroles division on behalf of an
7-1 inmate.
7-2 (3) "Inmate" means a defendant who has been sentenced
7-3 to the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal
7-4 Justice and is imprisoned or confined in a county jail.
7-5 (4) "Commission" means the Texas Ethics Commission.
7-6 SECTION 5. (a) Section 4A, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
7-7 Procedure, as added by Section 1 of this Act, applies only to a
7-8 person who ceases to be a member of the Board of Pardons and
7-9 Paroles, a member of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, or an
7-10 employee of the department on or after the effective date of that
7-11 section.
7-12 (b) The requirement in Section 7(h), Article 42.18, Code of
7-13 Criminal Procedure, as added in Section 2 of this Act, that a new
7-14 member of the Board of Pardons and Paroles attend a comprehensive
7-15 training and education program on the Texas criminal justice system
7-16 applies only to a member that begins service on or after the
7-17 effective date of that section.
7-18 SECTION 6. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
7-19 section, this Act takes effect immediately.
7-20 (b) Sections 1 and 4 of this Act take effect September 1,
7-21 1993.
7-22 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
7-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-27 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
8-1 terms, and it is so enacted.