1-1 By: Hamric, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Brown) H.B. No. 1433
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 15, 1995;
1-3 May 16, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
1-4 Justice; May 24, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 24, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the eligibility for release on mandatory supervision of
1-9 certain inmates of the institutional division of the Texas
1-10 Department of Criminal Justice.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 8(c), Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
1-13 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-14 (c) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection and
1-15 Subsection (c-1), a prisoner who is not on parole shall be released
1-16 to mandatory supervision by order of a parole panel when the
1-17 calendar time he has served plus any accrued good conduct time
1-18 equal the maximum term to which he was sentenced. A prisoner
1-19 released to mandatory supervision shall, upon release, be deemed as
1-20 if released on parole. To the extent practicable, arrangements for
1-21 the prisoner's proper employment, maintenance, and care shall be
1-22 made prior to his release to mandatory supervision. The period of
1-23 mandatory supervision shall be for a period equivalent to the
1-24 maximum term for which the prisoner was sentenced less calendar
1-25 time actually served on the sentence. The time served on mandatory
1-26 supervision is calculated as calendar time. Every prisoner while
1-27 on mandatory supervision shall remain in the legal custody of the
1-28 state and shall be amenable to conditions of supervision ordered by
1-29 the parole panel. A prisoner may not be released to mandatory
1-30 supervision if the prisoner is serving or has previously been
1-31 convicted <a sentence> for an offense and the judgment for the
1-32 offense contains an affirmative finding under Subdivision (2),
1-33 Subsection (a), Section 3g, Article 42.12, of this code or if the
1-34 prisoner is serving a sentence for or has previously been convicted
1-35 of:
1-36 (1) a first degree felony under Section 19.02, Penal
1-37 Code (Murder);
1-38 (2) a capital felony under Section 19.03, Penal Code
1-39 (Capital Murder);
1-40 (3) a first degree felony or a second degree felony
1-41 under Section 20.04, Penal Code (Aggravated Kidnapping);
1-42 (4) a second degree felony under Section 22.011, Penal
1-43 Code (Sexual Assault);
1-44 (5) a second degree or first degree felony under
1-45 Section 22.02, Penal Code (Aggravated Assault);
1-46 (6) a first degree felony under Section 22.021, Penal
1-47 Code (Aggravated Sexual Assault);
1-48 (7) a first degree felony under Section 22.04, Penal
1-49 Code (Injury to a Child, <or an> Elderly Individual, or Disabled
1-50 Individual);
1-51 (8) a first degree felony under Section 28.02, Penal
1-52 Code (Arson);
1-53 (9) a second degree felony under Section 29.02, Penal
1-54 Code (Robbery);
1-55 (10) a first degree felony under Section 29.03, Penal
1-56 Code (Aggravated Robbery);
1-57 (11) a first degree felony under Section 30.02, Penal
1-58 Code (Burglary)<, if the offense is punished under Subsection
1-59 (d)(2) or (d)(3) of that section>; or
1-60 (12) <(13)> a felony for which the punishment is
1-61 increased under Section 481.134, Health and Safety Code (Drug-Free
1-62 Zones).
1-63 SECTION 2. Section 8, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
1-64 Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
1-65 follows:
1-66 (c-1) A prisoner may not be released on mandatory
1-67 supervision if a parole panel determines that the prisoner's
1-68 accrued good conduct time is not an accurate reflection of the
2-1 prisoner's potential for rehabilitation and that the prisoner's
2-2 release would endanger the public. A parole panel that makes a
2-3 determination under this section shall specify in writing the
2-4 reasons for the determination. A determination under this
2-5 subsection is not subject to administrative or judicial review,
2-6 except that the parole panel making the determination shall
2-7 reconsider the prisoner for release on mandatory supervision at
2-8 least twice during the two years after the date of the
2-9 determination. If a parole panel on both the first and second
2-10 reconsiderations under this subsection determines that the prisoner
2-11 should not be released on mandatory supervision, the prisoner
2-12 becomes permanently ineligible for release on mandatory supervision
2-13 and may be released only on parole or completion of sentence.
2-14 SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
2-15 only to a prisoner serving a sentence for an offense committed on
2-16 or after the effective date of this Act. For purposes of this
2-17 section, an offense is committed before the effective date of this
2-18 Act if any element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
2-19 (b) A prisoner serving a sentence for an offense committed
2-20 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
2-21 effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
2-22 continued in effect for that purpose.
2-23 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
2-24 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-28 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-29 * * * * *