1-1     By:  Driver, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Shapiro)         H.B. No. 156

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 1, 1997;

 1-3     April 2, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Criminal Justice; May 18, 1997, reported favorably, as amended, by

 1-5     the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 18, 1997, sent to

 1-6     printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                              By:  Shapiro

 1-8           Amend H.B. 156 as follows:

 1-9           On page 2, line 12, between "not" and "communicate," add

1-10     "intentionally or knowingly".

1-11     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 2                              By:  Shapiro

1-12           Amend H.B. 156 by adding appropriately numbered SECTIONS to

1-13     read as follows and by renumbering existing SECTIONS accordingly:

1-14           SECTION_____.  Chapter 498, Government Code, is amended by

1-15     adding Section 498.0042 to read as follows:

1-16           Sec. 498.0042.  FORFEITURE FOR CONTACTING VICTIMS.  (a)  The

1-17     department shall adopt policies that prohibit an inmate in the

1-18     institutional division or in a transfer facility from contacting by

1-19     letter, telephone, or any other means, either directly or

1-20     indirectly, a victim of the offense for which the inmate is serving

1-21     a sentence, if:

1-22                 (1)  the victim was younger than 17 years of age at the

1-23     time of the commission of the offense; and

1-24                 (2)  the department has not, before the inmate makes

1-25     contact:

1-26                       (A)  received written consent to the contact

1-27     from:

1-28                             (i)  a parent of the victim, other than the

1-29     inmate;

1-30                             (ii)  a legal guardian of the victim; or

1-31                             (iii)  the victim, if the victim is 17

1-32     years of age or older at the time of giving the consent; and

1-33                       (B)  provided the inmate with a copy of the

1-34     consent.

1-35           (b)  If, during the actual term of imprisonment of an inmate

1-36     in the institutional division or a transfer facility, the inmate

1-37     violates a policy adopted under Subsection (a), the department

1-38     shall forfeit all or any part of the inmate's accrued good conduct

1-39     time.  The department may not restore good conduct time forfeited

1-40     under this subsection.

1-41           SECTION_____.  The change in law made by this Act applies to

1-42     an inmate who violates a rule adopted by the Texas Board of

1-43     Criminal Justice under Section 498.0042, Government Code, as added

1-44     by this Act, on or after the effective date of the rule, regardless

1-45     of whether the inmate is serving a sentence for an offense

1-46     committed before, on, or after the effective date of the rule.

1-47                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

1-48                                   AN ACT

1-49     relating to prohibiting contact with the victim as a mandatory

1-50     condition of parole or mandatory supervision for certain offenders

1-51     and to facilitating victim-offender mediation in certain

1-52     circumstances.

1-53           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-54           SECTION 1.  Section 8(o)(1), Article 42.18, Code of Criminal

1-55     Procedure, as added by Chapter 10, Acts of the 73rd Legislature,

1-56     Regular Session, 1993, is amended to read as follows:

1-57           (o)(1)  In addition to other conditions imposed by a parole

1-58     panel under this article, the parole panel shall [may] require as a

1-59     condition of parole or release to mandatory supervision that an

1-60     inmate serving a sentence for the [an] offense of stalking [under

1-61     Section 42.071, Penal Code, may] not:

1-62                       (A)  communicate directly or indirectly with the

1-63     victim;  or

1-64                       (B)  go to or near the residence, place of

 2-1     employment, or business of the victim or to or near a school,

 2-2     day-care facility, or similar facility where a dependent child of

 2-3     the victim is in attendance.

 2-4           SECTION 2.  Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

 2-5     amended by adding Section 8C to read as follows:

 2-6           Sec. 8C.  NO CONTACT WITH VICTIM.  (a)  If a parole panel

 2-7     releases a defendant on parole or to mandatory supervision, the

 2-8     panel shall require as a condition of parole or mandatory

 2-9     supervision that the defendant not communicate directly or

2-10     indirectly with a victim of the offense or go near a residence,

2-11     school, place of employment, business, or other location frequented

2-12     by a victim.  At any time after the defendant is released on parole

2-13     or to mandatory supervision, a victim of the offense may petition

2-14     the panel for a modification of the conditions of the defendant's

2-15     parole or mandatory supervision allowing the defendant contact with

2-16     the victim subject to reasonable restrictions.

2-17           (b)  To the extent that a condition imposed under this

2-18     section conflicts with an existing court order granting possession

2-19     of or access to a child, the condition imposed under this section

2-20     prevails for a period specified by the panel not to exceed 90 days.

2-21           (c)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a defendant may

2-22     participate in victim-offender mediation authorized by Section 30

2-23     on the request of the victim or a guardian of the victim or a close

2-24     relative of a deceased victim.

2-25           (d)  In this section, "victim" has the meaning assigned by

2-26     Article 56.01.

2-27           SECTION 3.  Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

2-28     amended by adding Section 30 to read as follows:

2-29           Sec. 30.  VICTIM-OFFENDER MEDIATION.  If the pardons and

2-30     paroles division receives notice from the victim services office of

2-31     the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that a victim of the

2-32     defendant, or the victim's guardian or close relative, wishes to

2-33     participate in victim-offender mediation with a person released to

2-34     parole or mandatory supervision, the division shall cooperate and

2-35     assist the person if the person chooses to participate in the

2-36     mediation program provided by the office.  The pardons and paroles

2-37     division may not require the defendant to participate and may not

2-38     reward the person for participation by modifying conditions of

2-39     release or the person's level of supervision or by granting any

2-40     other benefit to the person.

2-41           SECTION 4.  Article 26.13, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

2-42     amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:

2-43           (g)  Before accepting a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo

2-44     contendere and on the request of a victim of the offense, the court

2-45     may assist the victim and the defendant in participating in a

2-46     victim-offender mediation program.

2-47           SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-48           SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-49     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-50     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-51     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-52     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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