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.
2-53 * * * * *