By: Whitmire S.B. No. 724
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the county in which a defendant released on parole or
1-2 mandatory supervision must reside as a condition of release and to
1-3 a report by the Criminal Justice Policy Council on the number of
1-4 inmates released to each county.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 8A to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 8A. (a) In addition to other conditions imposed by a
1-9 parole panel under this article, the panel shall require as a
1-10 condition of parole or release to mandatory supervision that the
1-11 defendant reside during the period of parole or mandatory
1-12 supervision in the county in which:
1-13 (1) the defendant resided at the time of committing
1-14 the offense for which the defendant was sentenced to the
1-15 institutional division; or
1-16 (2) the defendant committed the offense for which the
1-17 defendant was sentenced to the institutional division, but only if
1-18 the defendant was not a resident of this state at the time of
1-19 committing the offense.
1-20 (b) A parole panel may require a defendant to reside in a
1-21 county other than the county required by Subsection (a) of this
1-22 section to:
1-23 (1) protect the life or safety of a victim of the
2-1 defendant's offense, the defendant, a witness in the case, or any
2-2 other person; or
2-3 (2) increase the likelihood of the defendant's
2-4 successful completion of parole or mandatory supervision, because
2-5 of:
2-6 (A) written expressions of significant public
2-7 concern in the county in which the defendant would otherwise be
2-8 required to reside;
2-9 (B) the presence of family members or friends in
2-10 the other county who have expressed a willingness to assist the
2-11 defendant in successfully completing the terms and conditions of
2-12 the defendant's release on parole or mandatory supervision;
2-13 (C) the verified existence of a job offer in the
2-14 other county; or
2-15 (D) the availability of treatment programs,
2-16 educational programs, or other social service programs in the other
2-17 county that are not available in the county in which the defendant
2-18 would otherwise be required to reside.
2-19 (c) At any time after a defendant is released on parole or
2-20 mandatory supervision, a parole panel may modify the conditions of
2-21 parole or release on mandatory supervision to require the defendant
2-22 to reside in a county other than the county required by the
2-23 original conditions. In making a decision under this subsection, a
2-24 parole panel must consider the factors listed in Subsection (b) of
2-25 this section.
3-1 (d) If a parole panel initially requires the defendant to
3-2 reside in a county other than the county required by Subsection (a)
3-3 of this article, the parole panel shall subsequently require the
3-4 person to reside in the county described by Subsection (a) of this
3-5 article if the requirement that the defendant reside in the other
3-6 county was based on:
3-7 (1) the verified existence of a job offer under
3-8 Subsection (b)(2)(C) of this article and the defendant is no longer
3-9 employed in or actively seeking employment; or
3-10 (2) the availability of treatment programs,
3-11 educational programs, or other social service programs under
3-12 Subsection (b)(2)(D) of this article and the defendant:
3-13 (A) no longer regularly participates in the
3-14 program as required by a term or condition of parole or release to
3-15 mandatory supervision; or
3-16 (B) has successfully completed the program but
3-17 has violated another term or condition of the defendant's release
3-18 on parole or mandatory supervision.
3-19 (e) If a parole panel requires the defendant to reside in a
3-20 county other than the county required by Subsection (a) of this
3-21 section, the panel shall state the reason for its decision in
3-22 writing and place the statement in the defendant's permanent
3-23 record.
3-24 (f) This section does not apply to a decision by a parole
3-25 panel to require a defendant to serve the period of parole or
4-1 mandatory supervision in another state.
4-2 SECTION 2. Chapter 413, Government Code, is amended by
4-3 adding Section 413.019 to read as follows:
4-4 Sec. 413.019. REPORT ON INMATE RELEASE STATISTICS. (a) Not
4-5 later than the fifth day of each month, the policy council shall
4-6 determine the following information relating to inmates for the
4-7 preceding month:
4-8 (1) the number and percentage of inmates released on
4-9 parole or to mandatory supervision to each county;
4-10 (2) the number and percentage of inmates released on
4-11 parole in absentia to each county; and
4-12 (3) the number of inmates released to and from a
4-13 halfway house in each county, including the number of inmates who
4-14 are required as a condition of release to reside in a county other
4-15 than the county in which a halfway house is located.
4-16 (b) The policy council shall submit to the Texas Board of
4-17 Criminal Justice an annual report that includes the following
4-18 information for the preceding 12 months:
4-19 (1) the number of inmates released on parole or to
4-20 mandatory supervision;
4-21 (2) the number and percentage of inmates released on
4-22 parole or to mandatory supervision to each county, including the
4-23 number of inmates who are required on release from a halfway house
4-24 to reside in a county other than the county in which the halfway
4-25 house is located;
5-1 (3) the number of inmates released on parole in
5-2 absentia;
5-3 (4) the number and destination of inmates who are
5-4 transferred from one county to another during the period of release
5-5 or supervision; and
5-6 (5) the number and percentage of inmates released on
5-7 parole in absentia to each county.
5-8 (c) The report required under this section must also include
5-9 the number of persons under the supervision or custody of the Texas
5-10 Department of Criminal Justice at the end of a fiscal year,
5-11 including the type and status of the supervision or custody.
5-12 (d) The pardons and paroles division of the Texas Department
5-13 of Criminal Justice shall review the information in the annual
5-14 report to enable the division to make an appropriate and equitable
5-15 distribution of inmates to each county.
5-16 SECTION 3. The Criminal Justice Policy Council shall make
5-17 its first annual report as required by Section 413.019, Government
5-18 Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1, 1994.
5-19 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
5-20 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.