S.B. No. 44
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the provision of good conduct time to inmates sentenced
1-2 to the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal
1-3 Justice.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subdivision (1), Section 498.001, Government
1-6 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-7 (1) "Inmate" means a person imprisoned <confined> by
1-8 order of a court <in the institutional division>, whether the
1-9 person is actually imprisoned <confined> in a facility operated by
1-10 or under contract with the institutional division <the institution>
1-11 or is under the supervision or custody of the pardons and paroles
1-12 division.
1-13 SECTION 2. Section 498.002, Government Code, is amended to
1-14 read as follows:
1-15 Sec. 498.002. Classification and Reclassification. The
1-16 department <institutional division> shall classify each inmate as
1-17 soon as practicable on the inmate's arrival at the institutional
1-18 division or a transfer facility and, subject to the requirements of
1-19 Section 498.005, shall reclassify the inmate as circumstances
1-20 warrant. Each inmate must be classified according to the inmate's
1-21 conduct, obedience, and industry<, and criminal history>. The
1-22 department <director of the institutional division> shall maintain
1-23 a record on each inmate showing each classification and
1-24 reclassification of the inmate with the date and reason for each
2-1 classification or reclassification. The department <institutional
2-2 division> may classify each inmate on the inmate's arrival at the
2-3 institutional division or a transfer facility in a time-earning
2-4 category that does not allow the inmate to earn more than 30 days'
2-5 good conduct time for each 30 days actually served.
2-6 SECTION 3. Section 498.003, Government Code, is amended to
2-7 read as follows:
2-8 Sec. 498.003. Accrual of Good Conduct Time. (a) Good
2-9 conduct time applies only to eligibility for parole or mandatory
2-10 supervision as provided by Section 8, Article 42.18, Code of
2-11 Criminal Procedure, and does not otherwise affect an inmate's term.
2-12 Good conduct time is a privilege and not a right. Regardless of
2-13 the classification of an inmate, the department <director of the
2-14 institutional division> may grant good conduct time to the inmate
2-15 only if the department <director> finds that the inmate is actively
2-16 engaged in an agricultural, vocational, or educational endeavor or
2-17 in an industrial program or other work program, unless the
2-18 department <director> finds that the inmate is not capable of
2-19 participating in such an endeavor.
2-20 (b) An inmate accrues good conduct time according to the
2-21 inmate's classification in amounts as follows:
2-22 (1) 20 days for each 30 days actually served while the
2-23 inmate is classified as a trusty, except that the department
2-24 <director of the institutional division> may award the inmate not
2-25 more than 10 extra days for each 30 days actually served;
2-26 (2) 20 days for each 30 days actually served while the
2-27 inmate is classified as a Class I inmate; and
3-1 (3) 10 days for each 30 days actually served while the
3-2 inmate is classified as a Class II inmate.
3-3 (c) An inmate may not accrue good conduct time during any
3-4 period the inmate is classified as a Class III inmate or is on
3-5 parole or under mandatory supervision.
3-6 (d) An inmate may accrue good conduct time, in an amount
3-7 determined by the department <director of the institutional
3-8 division> that does not exceed 15 days for each 30 days actually
3-9 served, for diligent participation in an industrial program or
3-10 other work program or for participation in an agricultural,
3-11 educational, or vocational program provided to inmates by the
3-12 department <institutional division>. For the purposes of this
3-13 subsection, the term "participation in an educational program"
3-14 includes the participation of the inmate as a tutor or a pupil in a
3-15 literacy program authorized by Section 501.005. The department
3-16 <institutional division> may not award good conduct time under this
3-17 subsection for participation in a literacy program unless the
3-18 department <division> determines that the inmate participated in
3-19 good faith and with diligence as a tutor or pupil.
3-20 (e) If a person is confined in a county jail <or a transfer
3-21 facility operated by the institutional division is transferred to
3-22 any other facility of the institutional division for confinement
3-23 purposes>, the department <director of the institutional division>
3-24 shall award good conduct time to the person up to an amount equal
3-25 to the amount earned by an inmate in the entry level time earning
3-26 class <that which the person could have accrued during the period
3-27 of confinement in the county jail or transfer facility if instead
4-1 the person had been imprisoned in the division during that period>.
4-2 The department <director of the institutional division> shall award
4-3 good conduct time to a defendant for diligent participation in a
4-4 voluntary work program operated by a sheriff under Article 43.101,
4-5 Code of Criminal Procedure, in the same manner as if the inmate had
4-6 diligently participated in an industrial program or other work
4-7 program provided to inmates by the department <institutional
4-8 division>. The sheriff of each county shall have attached a
4-9 certification of the number of days each inmate diligently
4-10 participated in the volunteer work program operated by the sheriff
4-11 under Article 43.101, Code of Criminal Procedure.
4-12 SECTION 4. Section 498.004, Government Code, is amended to
4-13 read as follows:
4-14 Sec. 498.004. Forfeiture and Restoration of Good Conduct
4-15 Time. (a) If, during the actual term of imprisonment of an inmate
4-16 in the institutional division or in a transfer facility, the inmate
4-17 commits an offense or violates a rule of the division, the
4-18 department <director of the institutional division> may forfeit all
4-19 or any part of the inmate's accrued good conduct time. The
4-20 department <director of the institutional division> may not restore
4-21 good conduct time forfeited under this subsection <subject to rules
4-22 adopted by the institutional division>.
4-23 (b) On the revocation of parole or mandatory supervision of
4-24 an inmate, the inmate forfeits all good conduct time previously
4-25 accrued. On return to the institutional division the inmate may
4-26 accrue new good conduct time for subsequent time served in the
4-27 division. The department <director of the institutional division>
5-1 may not restore good conduct time forfeited on a revocation <that
5-2 does not involve a new criminal conviction after the inmate has
5-3 served at least three months of good behavior in the institutional
5-4 division, subject to rules adopted by the division. Not later than
5-5 the 60th day after the date an inmate is returned to the
5-6 institutional division following a revocation of parole or
5-7 mandatory supervision, the pardons and paroles division shall
5-8 notify the director of the institutional division of the grounds
5-9 for revocation>.
5-10 SECTION 5. Section 498.005, Government Code, is amended to
5-11 read as follows:
5-12 Sec. 498.005. Annual Review of Classification; <Restoration
5-13 of Good Time;> Retroactive Award of Good Time. At least annually,
5-14 the board shall review the institutional division's policies
5-15 <rules> relating to <restoration of good conduct time that has been
5-16 forfeited,> the manner in which inmates are classified and
5-17 reclassified, and the manner in which additional good conduct time
5-18 is awarded retroactively to inmates who have been reclassified.
5-19 <The board shall consider in its review whether the inmate
5-20 overcrowding in the institutional division has decreased and
5-21 whether it is necessary for purposes of decreasing overcrowding to
5-22 classify inmates according to Section 498.002 to restore good
5-23 conduct time under Section 498.004, or to award additional good
5-24 conduct time retroactively to inmates who have been reclassified.
5-25 If the board determines that overcrowding has decreased and it is
5-26 not necessary to restore good conduct time or award additional good
5-27 conduct time, it shall direct the institutional division to
6-1 discontinue those practices.>
6-2 SECTION 6. Section 499.154, Government Code, is amended to
6-3 read as follows:
6-4 Sec. 499.154. Custody Status; Good Conduct Time. An inmate
6-5 described by Section 499.152 confined in a transfer facility
6-6 authorized by this subchapter earns good conduct time in the same
6-7 manner and subject to the same rules as if the inmate were confined
6-8 in <a county jail awaiting transfer to> the institutional division.
6-9 SECTION 7. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
6-10 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
6-11 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
6-12 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
6-13 before the effective date.
6-14 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
6-15 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
6-16 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
6-17 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-18 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
6-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.