By Hawley, Alexander, Patterson, Hightower, H.B. No. 1112
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain hearings concerning the revocation of the
1-3 release status of persons under the supervision of the pardons and
1-4 paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and
1-5 the housing of those persons pending the hearings.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-8 amended by adding Section 13A to read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 13A. TRANSFER PENDING REVOCATION HEARING. The
1-10 department, as provided by Section 14(h), may authorize a facility
1-11 that is otherwise required to detain and house a prisoner or person
1-12 to transfer the prisoner or person to a correctional facility
1-13 operated by the department or under contract with the department
1-14 if:
1-15 (1) the department determines that adequate space is
1-16 available in the facility to which the prisoner or person is to be
1-17 transferred; and
1-18 (2) the facility to which the prisoner or person is to
1-19 be transferred is located not more than 150 miles from the facility
1-20 from which the prisoner or person is to be transferred.
1-21 SECTION 2. Section 14, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal
1-22 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-23 Sec. 14. HEARINGS; SANCTIONS. (a) Whenever a prisoner or a
1-24 person granted a conditional pardon is accused of a violation of
1-25 his parole, mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon, on
2-1 information and complaint by a law enforcement officer or parole
2-2 officer, or is arrested after an ineligible release, he shall be
2-3 entitled to be heard on such charges before a parole panel or a
2-4 designee of the board under such rules as the board may adopt and
2-5 within a period that permits a parole panel, a designee of the
2-6 board, or the department to dispose of the charges within the
2-7 periods established by Subsections (c) and (d).
2-8 (b) A parole panel or a designee of the board shall provide
2-9 within a reasonable time to a prisoner or person described by
2-10 Subsection (a) a preliminary hearing to determine whether probable
2-11 cause or reasonable grounds exist to believe that the prisoner or
2-12 person has committed an act that would constitute a violation of a
2-13 condition of release, unless the prisoner or person:
2-14 (1) waives the preliminary hearing; or
2-15 (2) after release:
2-16 (A) has been charged only with an administrative
2-17 violation of a condition of release; or
2-18 (B) has been adjudicated guilty of or has
2-19 pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to an offense committed after
2-20 release, other than an offense punishable by fine only involving
2-21 the operation of a motor vehicle, regardless of whether the court
2-22 has deferred disposition of the case, imposed a sentence in the
2-23 case, or placed the prisoner or person on community supervision[;
2-24 provided, however, said hearing shall be held within 70 days of the
2-25 date of arrest under a warrant issued by the director or a
2-26 designated agent of the director or by the board on order by the
2-27 governor and at a time and place set by that parole panel or
3-1 designee. The panel or designee may hold the hearing at a date
3-2 later than the date otherwise required by this section if it
3-3 determines a delay is necessary to assure due process for the
3-4 person, except that the authority issuing the warrant shall
3-5 immediately withdraw the warrant if the hearing is not held before
3-6 the 121st day after the date of arrest].
3-7 (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a parole panel, a
3-8 designee of the board, or the department shall dispose of the
3-9 charges against a prisoner or person described by Subsection (a):
3-10 (1) before the 61st day after the date on which:
3-11 (A) a warrant issued as provided by Section
3-12 13(a) is executed, if the prisoner or person is arrested only on a
3-13 charge that the prisoner or person has committed an administrative
3-14 violation of a condition of release, and the prisoner or person is
3-15 not charged before the 61st day with the commission of an offense
3-16 described by Subsection (b)(2)(B); or
3-17 (B) the sheriff having custody of a prisoner or
3-18 person alleged to have committed an offense after release notifies
3-19 the department that:
3-20 (i) the prisoner or person has
3-21 discharged the sentence for the offense; or
3-22 (ii) the prosecution of the alleged
3-23 offense has been dismissed by the attorney representing the state
3-24 in the manner provided by Article 32.02; or
3-25 (2) within a reasonable time after the date on which
3-26 the prisoner or person is returned to the custody of the
3-27 department, if:
4-1 (A) immediately before the return the prisoner
4-2 or person was in custody in another state or in a federal
4-3 correctional system; or
4-4 (B) the prisoner or person is transferred to the
4-5 custody of the department under Section 13A.
4-6 (d) A parole panel, a designee of the board, or the
4-7 department is not required to dispose of the charges against a
4-8 prisoner or person within the period required by Subsection (c) if:
4-9 (1) the prisoner or person is in custody in another
4-10 state or a federal correctional institution;
4-11 (2) the parole panel or a designee of the board is not
4-12 provided a place by the sheriff to hold the hearing, in which event
4-13 the department, parole panel, or designee is not required to
4-14 dispose of the charges against the prisoner or person until the
4-15 60th day after the date on which the sheriff provides a place to
4-16 hold the hearing; or
4-17 (3) the prisoner or person is granted a continuance by
4-18 a parole panel or a designee of the board in the prisoner's or
4-19 person's hearing under Subsection (a), but in no event may a parole
4-20 panel, a designee of the board, or the department dispose of the
4-21 charges against the person later than the 30th day after the date
4-22 on which the parole panel, designee, or department would otherwise
4-23 be required to dispose of the charges under this section, unless
4-24 the prisoner or person is released from custody and a summons is
4-25 issued under Section 13(a) requiring the prisoner or person to
4-26 appear for a hearing under this section.
4-27 (e) If a parole panel or designee determines that a parolee,
5-1 mandatory supervisee, or person granted a conditional pardon has
5-2 been convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction of a felony
5-3 offense committed while an administrative releasee and has been
5-4 sentenced by the court to a term of incarceration in a penal
5-5 institution, the determination is to be considered a sufficient
5-6 hearing to revoke the parole or mandatory supervision or recommend
5-7 to the governor revocation of a conditional pardon without further
5-8 hearing, except that the parole panel or designee shall conduct a
5-9 hearing to consider mitigating circumstances if requested by the
5-10 parolee, mandatory supervisee, or person granted a conditional
5-11 pardon. When the parole panel or designee has heard the facts, the
5-12 board may recommend to the governor that the conditional pardon be
5-13 continued, revoked, or modified, or it may continue, revoke, or
5-14 modify the parole or mandatory supervision, in any manner warranted
5-15 by the evidence[. The parole panel or designee must make its
5-16 recommendation or decision no later than the 30th day after the
5-17 date the hearing is concluded].
5-18 (f) When a person's parole, mandatory supervision, or
5-19 conditional pardon is revoked, that person may be required to serve
5-20 the portion remaining of the sentence on which he was released,
5-21 such portion remaining to be calculated without credit for the time
5-22 from the date of his release to the date of revocation. When a
5-23 warrant is issued charging a violation of release conditions, the
5-24 sentence time credit may be suspended until a determination is made
5-25 in such case and such suspended time credit may be reinstated
5-26 should such parole, mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon be
5-27 continued.
6-1 (g) [(b)] The board shall develop and implement a training
6-2 program for designees of the board who conduct hearings under this
6-3 section. The training program must assist the designees in
6-4 understanding issues relating to the revocation process.
6-5 (h) In Subsections (c) and (d), charges against a prisoner
6-6 or person are disposed of when:
6-7 (1) the prisoner's or person's conditional pardon,
6-8 parole, or release on mandatory supervision is:
6-9 (A) revoked; or
6-10 (B) continued or modified and the prisoner or
6-11 person is released from the county jail;
6-12 (2) the warrant for the prisoner or person issued
6-13 under Section 13(a) is withdrawn and a summons is issued under
6-14 Section 13(a) requiring the prisoner or person to appear for a
6-15 hearing under this section; or
6-16 (3) the prisoner or person is transferred to a
6-17 facility described by Section 13A for further proceedings.
6-18 (i) A sheriff, not later than the 10th day before the date
6-19 on which the sheriff intends to release from custody a prisoner or
6-20 person described by Subsection (a) or transfer the prisoner or
6-21 person to the custody of an entity other than the department, shall
6-22 notify the department of the intended release or transfer.
6-23 [(c) The requirement in Subsection (a) that a warrant be
6-24 withdrawn does not apply if the person:]
6-25 [(1) has been removed from the custody of a county
6-26 sheriff by the department and placed in a community residential
6-27 facility;]
7-1 [(2) is in custody in another state or in a federal
7-2 correctional facility;]
7-3 [(3) is granted a continuance, not to exceed the 181st
7-4 day after the arrest, or the attorney representing the person or
7-5 the attorney representing the state is granted a continuance, not
7-6 to exceed the 181st day after the arrest; or]
7-7 [(4) is subject to pending criminal charges that have
7-8 not been adjudicated.]
7-9 SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act to Section 14,
7-10 Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies only to a
7-11 prisoner or person for whom a warrant issued under Section 13,
7-12 Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is executed on or after
7-13 the effective date of this Act. A prisoner or person for whom a
7-14 warrant is executed before the effective date of this Act is
7-15 covered by the law in effect when the warrant was executed, and the
7-16 former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
7-17 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 1, 1998.
7-18 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
7-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.