By: Whitmire S.B. No. 75
73R984 DRH-D
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 director may not, for a period of
1-9 10 years after the date the person ceases to be a board member or
1-10 director, represent any person in a matter before the board or
1-11 receive compensation for services rendered on behalf of any person
1-12 regarding a matter pending before the board.
1-13 (b) A person, other than a person subject to Subsection (a)
1-14 of this section, who is employed by the pardons and paroles
1-15 division may not, for a period of 10 years after the date the
1-16 person terminates service with the pardons and paroles division,
1-17 represent any person in a matter before the board or receive
1-18 compensation for services rendered on behalf of any person
1-19 regarding a matter pending before the board. This subsection does
1-20 apply to an employee exempt from the state's position
1-21 classification plan, but does not apply to an employee who was
1-22 compensated at a salary less than the salary prescribed by the
1-23 General Appropriations Act for step 1, salary group 17, of the
1-24 position classification salary schedule.
2-1 (c) A former member of the board, a former director, or a
2-2 former employee of the pardons and paroles division described by
2-3 Subsection (b) of this section may not represent any person or
2-4 receive compensation for services rendered on behalf of any person
2-5 regarding a matter with which the former member, director, or
2-6 employee was directly concerned during the period of service or
2-7 employment on or with the board or pardons and paroles division,
2-8 either through personal involvement or because the matter was
2-9 within the member's, director's, or employee's official
2-10 responsibility while associated with the board or the division.
2-11 (d) A former member, director, or employee of the pardons
2-12 and paroles division commits an offense if the former member,
2-13 director, or employee violates this section. An offense under this
2-14 subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
2-15 SECTION 2. Section 7, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
2-16 Procedure, is amended by amending Subsection (e) and adding
2-17 Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:
2-18 (e) Except as provided by Subsection (g) of this section, in
2-19 <In> matters of parole, release to mandatory supervision, and
2-20 revocation of parole or mandatory supervision, the board members
2-21 shall act in panels comprised of three persons in each panel. The
2-22 composition of the respective panels shall be designated by the
2-23 chairman of the board. A majority of each panel shall constitute a
2-24 quorum for the transaction of its business, and its decisions shall
2-25 be by majority vote.
2-26 (g) The board may grant parole to a person convicted of a
2-27 capital felony only on a majority vote of the entire membership of
3-1 the board.
3-2 (h) The Texas Board of Criminal Justice shall develop for
3-3 members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles a comprehensive
3-4 training and education program on the Texas criminal justice
3-5 system, with special emphasis on the parole process. A member of
3-6 the board shall attend, not later than the 30th day after the date
3-7 the person becomes a member of the board, a program described by
3-8 this subsection.
3-9 SECTION 3. Section 8(f)(5), Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
3-10 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
3-11 (5) Before ordering the parole of any prisoner, a
3-12 parole panel may have the prisoner appear before it and interview
3-13 him. A parole shall be ordered only for the best interest of
3-14 society, not as an award of clemency; it shall not be considered to
3-15 be a reduction of sentence or pardon. The pardons and paroles
3-16 division shall develop and implement standard parole guidelines
3-17 that shall be the basic criteria on which parole decisions are
3-18 made. The parole guidelines shall be developed according to an
3-19 acceptable research method and shall be based on the seriousness of
3-20 the offense and the likelihood of favorable parole outcome. The
3-21 pardons and paroles division shall review the parole guidelines and
3-22 the recommendations on the guidelines made by the Criminal Justice
3-23 Policy Council periodically and make any revisions considered
3-24 necessary by virtue of statistical analysis of board actions using
3-25 acceptable research methodology. If a parole panel or the board
3-26 deviates from the parole guidelines in making a parole decision,
3-27 the panel or board shall produce a brief written statement
4-1 describing the circumstances requiring the departure from the
4-2 guidelines and send a copy of the statement to the Texas Board of
4-3 Criminal Justice. A prisoner shall be placed on parole only when
4-4 arrangements have been made for his employment or for his
4-5 maintenance and care and when the parole panel believes that he is
4-6 able and willing to fulfill the obligations of a law-abiding
4-7 citizen. Every prisoner while on parole shall remain in the legal
4-8 custody of the pardons and paroles division and shall be amenable
4-9 to the conditions of supervision ordered under this article.
4-10 SECTION 4. Section 8, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
4-11 Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (o) to read as follows:
4-12 (o) The pardons and paroles division shall develop a
4-13 comprehensive program to inform inmates and their families about
4-14 the parole process.
4-15 SECTION 5. Section 11, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
4-16 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
4-17 Sec. 11. REPRESENTATION OF INMATES <INFORMATION AND
4-18 ARGUMENTS>. (a) The Texas Board of Criminal Justice shall adopt
4-19 rules as to:
4-20 (1) the submission and presentation of information and
4-21 arguments to parole panels and the pardons and paroles division for
4-22 and in behalf of any person within the jurisdiction of a panel or
4-23 the division; and
4-24 (2) the time, place, and manner of contact between a
4-25 person representing an inmate and a member of the board or an
4-26 employee of the pardons and paroles division.
4-27 (b) A person must register with the pardons and paroles
5-1 division if the person represents an inmate for compensation <All
5-2 persons presenting information or arguments to a panel or the
5-3 division shall submit therewith an affidavit stating whether any
5-4 fee has been paid or is to be paid for their services in the case,
5-5 the amount of such fee, if any, and by whom such fee is paid or to
5-6 be paid>.
5-7 (c) A person required to register under this section shall
5-8 file a fee affidavit with the pardons and paroles division in a
5-9 form prescribed by the division for each inmate the person
5-10 represents for compensation not later than the fifth day after the
5-11 date the person first contacts a member of the board or employee of
5-12 the pardons and paroles division on behalf of the inmate.
5-13 (d) The fee affidavit must be written and verified and
5-14 contain:
5-15 (1) the registrant's full name and address;
5-16 (2) the registrant's normal business, business phone
5-17 number, and business address;
5-18 (3) the full name and social security number of the
5-19 inmate the registrant represents;
5-20 (4) the amount of compensation the person has received
5-21 or expects to receive in exchange for the representation; and
5-22 (5) the name of the person making the compensation.
5-23 (e) The division shall, not later than the third day after
5-24 the date the fee affidavit is filed, place a copy of the affidavit
5-25 in the file of an inmate that a parole panel or the board reviews.
5-26 (f) If a person that has registered under this section
5-27 receives compensation in excess of the amount reported on the fee
6-1 affidavit, the person must file with the pardons and paroles
6-2 division, not later than the fifth day after the date the person
6-3 receives the additional compensation, a supplemental fee affidavit
6-4 in a form prescribed by the division indicating the total amount of
6-5 compensation received for representing that inmate. The division
6-6 shall follow the procedures in Subsection (e) of this section to
6-7 process the supplemental affidavit.
6-8 (g) A person required to register under this section shall,
6-9 for each calendar year the person represents an inmate, file a
6-10 representation summary form with the secretary of state on a form
6-11 prescribed by the secretary and pay an annual registration fee of
6-12 $100. The form must be filed not later than the last day of
6-13 January in the year following the reporting period and include:
6-14 (1) the registrant's full name and address;
6-15 (2) the registrant's normal business, business phone
6-16 number, and business address;
6-17 (3) the full name and social security number of each
6-18 inmate the registrant represented in the previous calendar year;
6-19 and
6-20 (4) the amount of compensation the person has received
6-21 for representing each inmate in the previous calendar year.
6-22 (h) The secretary of state shall submit to the pardons and
6-23 paroles division a copy of each representation summary form that is
6-24 filed.
6-25 (i) A person commits an offense if a person is required to
6-26 register under Subsection (b) or make a filing under Subsection (f)
6-27 or (g) of this section and the person fails to register or make the
7-1 filing. An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
7-2 (j) Fees collected under this section shall be deposited to
7-3 the credit of a special fund in the state treasury to be known as
7-4 the representation of parolees fund. The legislature may
7-5 appropriate money from the fund only to the pardons and paroles
7-6 division or the secretary of state to administer this section.
7-7 (k) In this section:
7-8 (1) "Compensation" has the meaning assigned by Section
7-9 305.002, Government Code.
7-10 (2) "Represent" means to contact in person or by
7-11 telephone, telegraph, or letter a member of the board or an
7-12 employee of the pardons and paroles division on behalf of an
7-13 inmate.
7-14 SECTION 6. Chapter 413, Government Code, is amended by
7-15 adding Section 413.019 to read as follows:
7-16 Sec. 413.019. REVIEW OF PAROLE GUIDELINES. (a) The policy
7-17 council shall review the parole guidelines adopted under Section
7-18 8(f)(5), Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, and make
7-19 recommendations on changes to the parole guidelines to the pardons
7-20 and paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
7-21 (b) The policy council shall report quarterly to the
7-22 Legislative Criminal Justice Board on:
7-23 (1) the comparative voting record on parole decisions
7-24 of each member of the Board of Pardons and Paroles; and
7-25 (2) the use of the parole guidelines by each member of
7-26 the board in making parole decisions.
7-27 SECTION 7. (a) Section 4A, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
8-1 Procedure, as added by Section 1 of this Act, applies only to a
8-2 person who ceases to be a member of the Board of Pardons and
8-3 Paroles, the director of the pardons and paroles division of the
8-4 Texas Department of Criminal Justice, or an employee of the pardons
8-5 and paroles division on or after the effective date of that
8-6 section.
8-7 (b) The requirement in Section 7(h), Article 42.18, Code of
8-8 Criminal Procedure, as added in Section 2 of this Act, that a new
8-9 member of the Board of Pardons and Paroles attend a comprehensive
8-10 training and education program on the Texas criminal justice system
8-11 applies only to a member that begins service on or after the
8-12 effective date of that section.
8-13 (c) The Criminal Justice Policy Council shall make its first
8-14 report as required by Section 413.019, Government Code, as added by
8-15 Section 6 of this Act, not later than January 1, 1994.
8-16 SECTION 8. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
8-17 section, this Act takes effect immediately.
8-18 (b) Sections 1 and 5 of this Act take effect September 1,
8-19 1993.
8-20 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
8-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
8-25 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
8-26 terms, and it is so enacted.