H.B. No. 1433
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the eligibility for release on mandatory supervision of
1-3 certain inmates of the institutional division of the Texas
1-4 Department of Criminal Justice.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 8(c), Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
1-7 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-8 (c) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection and
1-9 Subsection (c-1), a prisoner who is not on parole shall be released
1-10 to mandatory supervision by order of a parole panel when the
1-11 calendar time he has served plus any accrued good conduct time
1-12 equal the maximum term to which he was sentenced. A prisoner
1-13 released to mandatory supervision shall, upon release, be deemed as
1-14 if released on parole. To the extent practicable, arrangements for
1-15 the prisoner's proper employment, maintenance, and care shall be
1-16 made prior to his release to mandatory supervision. The period of
1-17 mandatory supervision shall be for a period equivalent to the
1-18 maximum term for which the prisoner was sentenced less calendar
1-19 time actually served on the sentence. The time served on mandatory
1-20 supervision is calculated as calendar time. Every prisoner while
1-21 on mandatory supervision shall remain in the legal custody of the
1-22 state and shall be amenable to conditions of supervision ordered by
1-23 the parole panel. A prisoner may not be released to mandatory
1-24 supervision if the prisoner is serving or has previously been
2-1 convicted <a sentence> for an offense and the judgment for the
2-2 offense contains an affirmative finding under Subdivision (2),
2-3 Subsection (a), Section 3g, Article 42.12, of this code or if the
2-4 prisoner is serving a sentence for or has previously been convicted
2-5 of:
2-6 (1) a first degree felony under Section 19.02, Penal
2-7 Code (Murder);
2-8 (2) a capital felony under Section 19.03, Penal Code
2-9 (Capital Murder);
2-10 (3) a first degree felony or a second degree felony
2-11 under Section 20.04, Penal Code (Aggravated Kidnapping);
2-12 (4) a second degree felony under Section 22.011, Penal
2-13 Code (Sexual Assault);
2-14 (5) a second degree or first degree felony under
2-15 Section 22.02, Penal Code (Aggravated Assault);
2-16 (6) a first degree felony under Section 22.021, Penal
2-17 Code (Aggravated Sexual Assault);
2-18 (7) a first degree felony under Section 22.04, Penal
2-19 Code (Injury to a Child, <or an> Elderly Individual, or Disabled
2-20 Individual);
2-21 (8) a first degree felony under Section 28.02, Penal
2-22 Code (Arson);
2-23 (9) a second degree felony under Section 29.02, Penal
2-24 Code (Robbery);
2-25 (10) a first degree felony under Section 29.03, Penal
2-26 Code (Aggravated Robbery);
2-27 (11) a first degree felony under Section 30.02, Penal
3-1 Code (Burglary)<, if the offense is punished under Subsection
3-2 (d)(2) or (d)(3) of that section>; or
3-3 (12) <(13)> a felony for which the punishment is
3-4 increased under Section 481.134, Health and Safety Code (Drug-Free
3-5 Zones).
3-6 SECTION 2. Section 8, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
3-7 Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
3-8 follows:
3-9 (c-1) A prisoner may not be released on mandatory
3-10 supervision if a parole panel determines that the prisoner's
3-11 accrued good conduct time is not an accurate reflection of the
3-12 prisoner's potential for rehabilitation and that the prisoner's
3-13 release would endanger the public. A parole panel that makes a
3-14 determination under this section shall specify in writing the
3-15 reasons for the determination. A determination under this
3-16 subsection is not subject to administrative or judicial review,
3-17 except that the parole panel making the determination shall
3-18 reconsider the prisoner for release on mandatory supervision at
3-19 least twice during the two years after the date of the
3-20 determination.
3-21 SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
3-22 only to a prisoner serving a sentence for an offense committed on
3-23 or after the effective date of this Act. For purposes of this
3-24 section, an offense is committed before the effective date of this
3-25 Act if any element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
3-26 (b) A prisoner serving a sentence for an offense committed
3-27 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
4-1 effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
4-2 continued in effect for that purpose.
4-3 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1996.
4-4 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.