LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                                   Austin, Texas
         
                                   FISCAL NOTE
                               75th Regular Session
         
                                  March 12, 1997
         
         
      TO: Honorable Allen Hightower, Chair            IN RE:  House Bill No. 1112
          Committee on Corrections                              By: Hawley
          House
          Austin, Texas
         
         
         
         
         FROM:  John Keel, Director    
         
In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on HB1112 ( Relating 
to certain hearings concerning the revocation of the release 
status of persons under the supervision of the pardons and paroles 
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the 
housing of those persons pending the hearing.) this office has 
detemined the following:
         
         Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by HB1112-As Introduced
         
Implementing the provisions of the bill would result in a net 
negative impact of $(15,534,577) to General Revenue Related 
Funds through the biennium ending August 31, 1999.
         
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal 
basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions 
of the bill.
         
 
Fiscal Analysis
 
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure by permitting 
the transfer of a person awaiting a revocation hearing to a 
correctional facility operated by or under contract to the Texas 
Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), if the person was not 
also being held subject to pending criminal charges.  The transfer 
could be made if there was adequate space in the facility to 
which the person would be transferred and the facility was located 
within 150 miles of the facility from which the person would 
be transferred.  

If TDCJ were to refuse to authorize a transfer 
that had been requested by the facility holding the inmate, 
TDCJ would be required to reimburse the facility for the cost 
of medical care for the inmate.  No reimbursement would be required 
if the person being held was under a pending charge.

The 
bill would also eliminate the preliminary hearing requirement 
for potential parole revocations, thereby reducing to an average 
of 60 days the number of days, after an arrest, that a person 
would spend awaiting a revocation hearing.   

This bill would 
become effective immediately upon enactment, assuming that it 
received the requisite two-thirds majority votes in both houses 
of the Legislature and the signature of the governor.  Otherwise, 
it would become effective 90 days after adjournment.
 
Methodolgy
 
It is estimated that a peak population of 2,700 inmates will 
be held in county jails for an average of 60 days awaiting revocation 
hearings.  It is assumed that 57 percent of the hearings will 
result in release or sanctions other than revocation, and 43 
percent will result in revocation.  After revocation, an inmate 
is assumed to remain in the county jail for an additional 30 
days before returning to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

If 
the provisions of this bill become effective, TDCJ would have 
two options for housing inmates awaiting revocation hearings: 
a) move the inmates to a state correctional facility; or b) 
leave the inmates in county jail.  In this analysis it is assumed 
that inmates awaiting revocation hearings will, for reasons 
related to capacity and costs, remain housed in county jail 
facilities rather than in TDCJ facilities. 

It is assumed 
that the effective date of the bill would be April 1, 1997. 
 Should the bill not become effective until September 1, 1997, 
implementing the provisions of the bill would result in a negative 
impact of $(12,856,199) to General Revenue Related Funds through 
the biennium ending August 31, 1999.  
The probable fiscal implications of implementing the provisions 
of the bill during each of the first six years following passage 
is estimated as follows:
 
Six Year Impact:
 
Fiscal Year Probable Revenue   Probable Revenue   
            Gain/(Loss) from   Gain/(Loss) to                                                             
            General Revenue    Counties                                                                   
            Fund                                                                                          
            0001               LCL-COUNTY                                                                  
       1997      ($2,678,377)        $2,678,377                                                      
       1997       (6,428,100)         6,428,100                                                      
       1999       (6,428,100)         6,428,100                                                      
       2000       (6,428,100)         6,428,100                                                      
       2001       (6,428,100)         6,428,100                                                      
       2002       (6,428,100)         6,428,100                                                      
 
 
         Net Impact on General Revenue Related Funds:
 
The probable fiscal implication to General Revenue related funds 
during each of the first six years is estimated as follows:
 
              Fiscal Year      Probable Net Postive/(Negative)
                               General Revenue Related Funds
                                             Funds
               1997         ($2,678,377)
               1998          (6,428,100)
               1999          (6,428,100)
               2000          (6,428,100)
               2001          (6,428,100)
               2002          (6,428,100)
 
Similar annual fiscal implications would continue as long as 
the provisions of the bill are in effect.
          
   Source:            Agencies:   696   Department of Criminal Justice
                                         304   Comptroller of Public Accounts
                                         409   Commission on Jail Standards
                      LBB Staff:   JK ,CB ,GG