SGN C.S.H.B. 126 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS CORRECTIONS C.S.H.B. 126 By: Danburg 4-16-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND In the larger urban cities, municipal and county jails often release inmates from their custody at times when services, such as bus transportation, may be unavailable. Some releasees have friends and family that are able to pick them up, but many may end up on the street. Women, the sick and the mentally ill who are released at night and end up on the streets, are often victimized. PURPOSE As proposed, C.S.H.B. 126 would require a defendant convicted of a misdemeanor and sentenced to confinement in jail of more than 30 days to be discharged at any time between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on the day of the discharge. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Article 43.13, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding Subsection (b) which provides that a defendant convicted of a misdemeanor and sentenced to a term of confinement of more than 30 days discharges the defendant's sentence at any time between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. on the day of discharge. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1997. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The original bill required the TDCJ, municipal, and county jails to release inmates from their custody only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and only on a weekday other than a weekday that is a state or national holiday. The substitute provides that only defendants convicted of a misdemeanor and sentenced to a term of confinement of more than 30 days be discharged between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. on the day of the discharge.