SGN H.B. 2326 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS
CORRECTIONS
H.B. 2326
By: Allen
4-9-97
Committee Report (Unamended)
BACKGROUND
Currently, TDCJ's statutory mission is oriented toward offenders: "to
provide public safety, promote positive change in offender behavior, and
reintegrate offenders into society." State agencies are constrained to
conduct activities pursuant only to specific grants of statutory
authority, and other than victim notification and information, TDCJ has
very limited statutory authority to provide services to victims. To the
extent that victim services programs are not specifically authorized by
statute, they currently should at a minimum, bear some relationship to the
agency's general mission, such as the rehabilitative value of
victim-offender mediation and dialogue.
PURPOSE
HB 2326 establishes a victim services division, with a specific grant of
authority. The bill also changes numerous references in statute to the
new division, and amends the parole file confidentiality statute to
clarify that records are confidential when held by any division of TDCJ.
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 Section 493.002(a), Government Code, to add the victim
services division within the department.
SECTION 2. Amends Chapter 493, Government Code, by adding Section
493.0055 as follows:
Sec. 493.0055. VICTIM SERVICES DIVISION.
(a) Requires the victim services division to maintain information
relevant to victims of crime, provide notice to victims of crime as
required by law, and provide training and information on crime victims'
issues to department employees and criminal justice personnel. Allows the
division to provide services to victims of crime and provide
victim-related services to offenders under the jurisdiction of the
department, including victim-offender mediation and the opportunity for
dialogue between victims and offenders.
(b) Provides that the Texas Crime Victim Clearinghouse is located in the
victim services division.
(c) Allows the board to apply for and accept gifts or grants from any
public or private source for the purpose of providing services described
by this section.
SECTION 3. Amends Section 2, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure,
by adding Subdivision (10) to define "Victim services division" as the
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
SECTION 4. Amends Subdivisions (2) and (3), Section 8(f), Article 42.18,
Code of Criminal Procedure, by changing references from the pardons and
paroles division to the victim services division.
SECTION 5. Amends Section 18(a), Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
Procedure, to provide that except as provided by Subsection (b), all
information, including victim protest letters or other correspondence,
victim impact statements, lists of inmates eligible for release on parole,
and arrest records of inmates, obtained and maintained by the department
in connection with inmates of the institutional division and related to
their eligibility for or release on parole, mandatory supervision, or
executive clemency, or individuals who may be on mandatory supervision or
parole and under the supervision of the pardons and paroles division, or
persons directly identified in any proposed plan of release for a
prisoner, is confidential and privileged.
SECTION 6. Amends Article 56.02(a), Subdivisions (6) and (7), Code of
Criminal Procedure, as follows:
(6) deletes references to Chapter 56 and changes references from the Act
to the subchapter.
(7) provides that information be provided for inclusion in the
defendant's file to be considered by the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
SECTION 7. Amends Subsections (a), (d), and (h), Article 56.03, Code of
Criminal Procedure, as follows:
(a) Adds the community justice assistance division, institutional
division, and pardons and paroles division of the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice to assist the Texas Crime Victim Clearinghouse and the
Board of Pardons and Paroles in the development of a form to be used to
record the impact of an offense on a victim of the offense, guardian of a
victim, or a close relative of a deceased victim and to provide the
agencies, prosecutors, and participants with information needed to contact
the victim, guardian, or relative if needed at any stage of a prosecution
of a person charged with the offense. Adds the community justice
assistance division, institutional division, and the pardons and paroles
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to assist the Texas
Crime Victim Clearinghouse and the Board of Pardons and Paroles in the
development of a victims' information booklet that provides a general
explanation of the criminal justice system to victims of an offense,
guardians of victims, and relatives of deceased victims.
(d) changes reference from the Board of Pardons and Paroles to the victim
services division of TDCJ.
(h) Adds the community justice assistance division, institutional
division, and pardons and paroles division of the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice to participate with the Texas Crime Victim Clearinghouse
and the Board of Pardons and Paroles to update the victim impact statement
form provided to victims, guardians of victims, and relatives of deceased
victims, if necessary, to reflect changes in law relating to criminal
justice and the rights of victims and guardians and relatives of victims.
SECTION 8. Amends Article 56.04(e), Code of Criminal Procedure, to change
reference from Texas Department of Corrections to the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice.
SECTION 9. Amends Subsections (a) and (c), Article 56.05, Code of
Criminal Procedure, as follows:
(a) Requires the Crime Victims' Institute to develop a survey plan to
maintain statistics on the numbers and types of persons to whom state and
local agencies provide victim impact statements during each year.
(c) Requires the Texas Crime Victim Clearinghouse to assist the
Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education to develop
crime victim assistance standards and distribute those standards to law
enforcement officers to aid those officers in performing the duties
imposed by this chapter. Requires the Texas Crime Victim Clearinghouse to
develop and distribute, in cooperation with the Texas District and County
Attorneys Association, crime
victim assistance standards to aid attorneys representing the state in
performing duties imposed by this chapter.
SECTION 10. Amends Article 56.08(c), Code of Criminal Procedure, to
change reference from the pardons and paroles division to the victim
services division.
SECTION 11. Amends Article 56.11, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended
by S.B. No. 97, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, to
change references from the institutional division to the victim services
division.
SECTION 12. Amends Article 56.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, to provide
that the victim services division is responsible for notifying victims
upon the escape of their offender.
SECTION 13. Effective date: September 1, 1997.
SECTION 14. Emergency clause.