By Brown                                               S.B. No. 838
       74R5968 GWK-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    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 served a
    2-1  sentence for an offense and the judgment for the offense contains
    2-2  an affirmative finding under Subdivision (2), Subsection (a),
    2-3  Section 3g, Article 42.12, of this code or if the prisoner is
    2-4  serving a sentence for or has previously been convicted of:
    2-5              (1)  a first degree felony under Section 19.02, Penal
    2-6  Code (Murder);
    2-7              (2)  a capital felony under Section 19.03, Penal Code
    2-8  (Capital Murder);
    2-9              (3)  a first degree felony or a second degree felony
   2-10  under Section 20.04, Penal Code (Aggravated Kidnapping);
   2-11              (4)  a second degree felony under Section 22.011, Penal
   2-12  Code (Sexual Assault);
   2-13              (5)  a second degree or first degree felony under
   2-14  Section 22.02, Penal Code (Aggravated Assault);
   2-15              (6)  a first degree felony under Section 22.021, Penal
   2-16  Code (Aggravated Sexual Assault);
   2-17              (7)  a first degree felony under Section 22.04, Penal
   2-18  Code (Injury to a Child, <or an> Elderly Individual, or Disabled
   2-19  Individual);
   2-20              (8)  a first degree felony under Section 28.02, Penal
   2-21  Code (Arson);
   2-22              (9)  a second degree felony under Section 29.02, Penal
   2-23  Code (Robbery);
   2-24              (10)  a first degree felony under Section 29.03, Penal
   2-25  Code (Aggravated Robbery);
   2-26              (11)  a first degree felony under Section 30.02, Penal
   2-27  Code (Burglary)<, if the offense is punished under Subsection
    3-1  (d)(2) or (d)(3) of that section>; or
    3-2              (12) <(13)>  a felony for which the punishment is
    3-3  increased under Section 481.134, Health and Safety Code (Drug-Free
    3-4  Zones).
    3-5        SECTION 2.  Section 8, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
    3-6  Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
    3-7  follows:
    3-8        (c-1)  A prisoner may not be released on mandatory
    3-9  supervision if a parole panel determines that the prisoner's
   3-10  accrued good conduct time is not an accurate reflection of the
   3-11  prisoner's potential for rehabilitation and that the prisoner's
   3-12  release would unreasonably endanger the public.  A parole panel
   3-13  that makes a determination under this section shall specify in
   3-14  writing the reasons for the determination.  A determination under
   3-15  this subsection is not subject to administrative or judicial
   3-16  review, except that the parole panel making the determination shall
   3-17  reconsider the prisoner for release on mandatory supervision at
   3-18  least twice during the two years after the date of the
   3-19  determination.  If a parole panel on both the first and second
   3-20  reconsiderations under this subsection determines that the prisoner
   3-21  should not be released on mandatory supervision, the prisoner
   3-22  becomes permanently ineligible for release on mandatory supervision
   3-23  and may be released only on parole or completion of sentence.
   3-24        SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
   3-25  only to a prisoner serving a sentence for an offense committed on
   3-26  or after the effective date of this Act.  For purposes of this
   3-27  section, an offense is committed before the effective date of this
    4-1  Act if any element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
    4-2        (b)  A prisoner serving a sentence for an offense committed
    4-3  before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
    4-4  effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
    4-5  continued in effect for that purpose.
    4-6        SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
    4-7        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
    4-8  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    4-9  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   4-10  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   4-11  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.