By Hawley                                       H.B. No. 1112

      75R5513 GWK-D                           

                                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 hearing.

 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.  (a)  The

1-10     Texas Department of Criminal Justice may authorize a facility that

1-11     is required to detain and house a person or prisoner under Section

1-12     13(a) to transfer the person or prisoner to a correctional facility

1-13     operated by the department or under contract with the department if

1-14     the person or prisoner is not also being held subject to pending

1-15     criminal charges and:

1-16                 (1)  the department determines that adequate space is

1-17     available in the facility to which the person or prisoner is to be

1-18     transferred; and

1-19                 (2)  the facility to which the person or prisoner is to

1-20     be transferred is located not more than 150 miles from the facility

1-21     from which the inmate is to be transferred.

1-22           (b)  If a facility that is required to detain and house a

1-23     person or prisoner under Section 13(a) requests the Texas

1-24     Department of Criminal Justice to transfer the person or prisoner

 2-1     to a facility operated by or under contract with the department and

 2-2     the department refuses to authorize the transfer, regardless of

 2-3     whether a facility described by Subsections (a)(1) and (2) is

 2-4     available to detain and house the inmate, the department shall

 2-5     reimburse the facility in which the inmate is housed for the cost

 2-6     of medical care for the inmate, not to exceed the cost per day the

 2-7     department would have incurred for medical care had the person or

 2-8     prisoner been transferred to a facility operated by or under

 2-9     contract with the department.  The department is not required to

2-10     reimburse a facility under this subsection if the person or

2-11     prisoner detained and housed in the facility is also being held

2-12     subject to pending criminal charges.

2-13           SECTION 2.  Section 14(a), Article 42.18, Code of Criminal

2-14     Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

2-15           (a)  Whenever a prisoner or a person granted a conditional

2-16     pardon is accused of a violation of his parole, mandatory

2-17     supervision, or conditional pardon, on information and complaint by

2-18     a law enforcement officer or parole officer, or is arrested after

2-19     an ineligible release, he shall be entitled to be heard on such

2-20     charges before a parole panel or a designee of the board under such

2-21     rules as the board may adopt; provided[,] however that the prisoner

2-22     or person is not entitled to a preliminary [, said] hearing under

2-23     this section but shall be provided a revocation hearing [shall be

2-24     held] within 60 [70] days of the date of arrest under a warrant

2-25     issued by the director or a designated agent of the director or by

2-26     the board on order by the governor and at a time and place set by

2-27     that parole panel or designee.  The panel or designee may hold the

 3-1     hearing at a date later than the date otherwise required by this

 3-2     section if it determines a delay is necessary to assure due process

 3-3     for the person, except that the authority issuing the warrant shall

 3-4     immediately withdraw the warrant if the hearing is not held before

 3-5     the 121st day after the date of arrest.  If a parole panel or

 3-6     designee determines that a parolee, mandatory supervisee, or person

 3-7     granted a conditional pardon has been convicted in a court of

 3-8     competent jurisdiction of a felony offense committed while an

 3-9     administrative releasee and has been sentenced by the court to a

3-10     term of incarceration in a penal institution, the determination is

3-11     to be considered a sufficient hearing to revoke the parole or

3-12     mandatory supervision or recommend to the governor revocation of a

3-13     conditional pardon without further hearing, except that the parole

3-14     panel or designee shall conduct a hearing to consider mitigating

3-15     circumstances if requested by the parolee, mandatory supervisee, or

3-16     person granted a conditional pardon.  When the parole panel or

3-17     designee has heard the facts, the board may recommend to the

3-18     governor that the conditional pardon be continued, revoked, or

3-19     modified, or it may continue, revoke, or modify the parole or

3-20     mandatory supervision, in any manner warranted by the evidence.

3-21     The parole panel or designee must make its recommendation or

3-22     decision no later than the 30th day after the date the hearing is

3-23     concluded.  When a person's parole, mandatory supervision, or

3-24     conditional pardon is revoked, that person may be required to serve

3-25     the portion remaining of the sentence on which he was released,

3-26     such portion remaining to be calculated without credit for the time

3-27     from the date of his release to the date of revocation.  When a

 4-1     warrant is issued charging a violation of release conditions, the

 4-2     sentence time credit may be suspended until a determination is made

 4-3     in such case and such suspended time credit may be reinstated

 4-4     should such parole, mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon be

 4-5     continued.

 4-6           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 4-7     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 4-8     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 4-9     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

4-10     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

4-11     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

4-12     passage, and it is so enacted.