By:  Hilbert                                           H.B. No. 729
       73R3387 GWK-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the county in which a defendant released on parole or
    1-3  mandatory supervision must reside as a condition of release.
    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 8A to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 8A.  (a)  In addition to other conditions imposed by a
    1-8  parole panel under this article, the panel shall require as a
    1-9  condition of parole or release to mandatory supervision that the
   1-10  defendant reside during the period of parole or mandatory
   1-11  supervision in the county in which:
   1-12              (1)  the defendant resided at the time of committing
   1-13  the offense for which the defendant was sentenced to the
   1-14  institutional division; or
   1-15              (2)  the defendant committed the offense for which the
   1-16  defendant was sentenced to the institutional division, but only if
   1-17  the defendant was not a resident of this state at the time of
   1-18  committing the offense.
   1-19        (b)  A parole panel may require a defendant to reside in a
   1-20  county other than the county required by Subsection (a) of this
   1-21  section after considering whether the defendant's residence in the
   1-22  other county is necessary to:
   1-23              (1)  protect the life or safety of a victim of the
   1-24  defendant's offense, the defendant, a witness in the case, or any
    2-1  other person; or
    2-2              (2)  increase the likelihood of the defendant's
    2-3  successful completion of parole or mandatory supervision, because
    2-4  of:
    2-5                    (A)  expressions of public concern in the county
    2-6  in which the defendant would otherwise be required to reside;
    2-7                    (B)  the presence of family in the other county
    2-8  that would give support to the defendant;
    2-9                    (C)  the verified existence of a job offer in the
   2-10  other county; or
   2-11                    (D)  the availability of treatment programs or
   2-12  other social service programs in the other county that are not
   2-13  available in the county in which the defendant would otherwise be
   2-14  required to reside.
   2-15        (c)  At any time after a defendant is released on parole or
   2-16  mandatory supervision, a parole panel may modify the conditions of
   2-17  parole or release on mandatory supervision to require the defendant
   2-18  to reside in a county other than the county required by the
   2-19  original conditions.  In making a decision under this subsection, a
   2-20  parole panel must consider the factors listed in Subsection (b) of
   2-21  this section.
   2-22        (d)  If a parole panel requires the defendant to reside in a
   2-23  county other than the county required by Subsection (a) of this
   2-24  section, the panel shall state the reason for its decision in
   2-25  writing, and place the statement in the defendant's permanent
   2-26  record.
   2-27        (e)  This section does not apply to a decision by a parole
    3-1  panel to require a defendant to serve the period of parole or
    3-2  mandatory supervision in another state.
    3-3        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
    3-4        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-5  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    3-6  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    3-7  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-8  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.