HBA-EDN H.B. 632 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 632
By: Turner, Sylvester
Criminal Jurisprudence
2/18/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Many states allow life sentences that strictly limit or eliminate the
possibility of parole in capital felony cases. In Texas, a jury does not
have the option of sentencing a defendant convicted of a capital felony
offense to life without parole.  Under current law, a jury in a capital
felony case can sentence a person to death or sentence the person to life,
in the latter case the person may be paroled in 40 years.  There is an
increasing public demand for a greater assurance that an inmate will not be
released from prison if not sentenced to the death penalty.   House Bill
632 enables juries to sentence a defendant convicted in a capital felony
case to the death penalty, a life sentence, or a life sentence without
parole. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 632 amends the Penal Code to add life imprisonment without
parole as a sentencing option in a capital felony case.   

The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to modify the procedures for
instructing the jury in a capital felony case to include instructions
regarding the sentence of life imprisonment without parole and provides
criteria under which a defendant is required to be sentenced to life
without parole.  

H.B. 632 also amends the Government Code to specify that a defendant
sentenced to life may be paroled, when eligible, only with a two-thirds
vote of the members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles.  The bill
specifies that an inmate under sentence of death or serving a sentence of
life imprisonment without parole is not eligible for release on parole. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.