1-1     By:  Allen, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Armbrister)       H.B. No. 261
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 1999;
 1-3     May 10, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
 1-4     Justice; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 6, Nays 1; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the forfeiture of good conduct time of an inmate who
 1-9     files a frivolous or malicious lawsuit while confined in county
1-10     jail awaiting transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Article 42.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-13     amended by adding Section 9 to read as follows:
1-14           Sec. 9.  A county that transfers a defendant to the Texas
1-15     Department of Criminal Justice under this article may deliver to an
1-16     officer designated  by the department a certified copy of a final
1-17     order of a state or federal court that dismisses as frivolous or
1-18     malicious a lawsuit brought by the inmate while the inmate was
1-19     confined in the county jail awaiting transfer to the department
1-20     following conviction of a felony or revocation of community
1-21     supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.  The county may
1-22     deliver the copy to the department at the time of the transfer of
1-23     the inmate or at any time after the transfer of the inmate.
1-24           SECTION 2.  (a)  Section 5, Article 42.032, Code of Criminal
1-25     Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-26           Sec. 5.  Any part or all of the commutation accrued under
1-27     this article may be forfeited and taken away by the sheriff:
1-28                 (1)  for a sustained charge of misconduct in violation
1-29     of any rule known to the defendant, including escape or attempt to
1-30     escape, if the sheriff has complied with discipline proceedings as
1-31     approved by the Commission on Jail Standards; or
1-32                 (2)  on receipt by the sheriff of a certified copy of a
1-33     final order of a state or federal court that dismisses as frivolous
1-34     or malicious a lawsuit brought by a defendant while the defendant
1-35     was in the custody of the sheriff.
1-36           (b)  Section 5, Article 42.032, Code of Criminal Procedure,
1-37     as amended by this section, applies only to a forfeiture of
1-38     commutation of time for good conduct based on the filing in court
1-39     of a lawsuit on or after the effective date of this Act.
1-40           SECTION 3.  Section 498.0045(a), Government Code, is amended
1-41     to read as follows:
1-42           (a)  In this section, "final order" means a certified copy of
1-43     a final order of a state or federal court that dismisses as
1-44     frivolous or malicious a lawsuit brought by an inmate while the
1-45     inmate was in the custody of the department or confined in county
1-46     jail awaiting transfer to the department following conviction of a
1-47     felony or revocation  of community supervision, parole, or
1-48     mandatory supervision.
1-49           SECTION 4.  The amendment made by Section 3 of this Act to
1-50     Section 498.0045, Government Code, applies only to a forfeiture of
1-51     good conduct time based on the filing in court of a lawsuit on or
1-52     after the effective date of this Act.
1-53           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-54     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-55     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-56     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-57     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-58     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-59     passage, and it is so enacted.
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