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