By Allen                                              H.B. No. 1616
         77R6201 PEP-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the eligibility for state benefits of a person
 1-3     imprisoned in the institutional division of the Texas Department of
 1-4     Criminal Justice.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1. Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
 1-7     by adding Article 42.025 to read as follows:
 1-8           Art. 42.025.  DENIAL OF STATE BENEFITS. (a)  Except as
 1-9     provided by Subsection (b), a person convicted of an offense and
1-10     sentenced to a term of imprisonment in the institutional division
1-11     of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice may not receive from
1-12     the state any loan, grant, pension, salary, or other payment until
1-13     the date on which the person is released after completing the term
1-14     of imprisonment.
1-15           (b)  This section does not apply to:
1-16                 (1)  an inmate in a prison industries program operated
1-17     by the prison industries office of the Texas Department of Criminal
1-18     Justice under Subchapter A, Chapter 497, Government Code; or
1-19                 (2)  any other person sentenced to a term of
1-20     imprisonment in the institutional division of the Texas Department
1-21     of Criminal Justice if the payment is:
1-22                       (A)  a payment in satisfaction of wages earned or
1-23     a contract performed before the date the person is finally
1-24     convicted of the offense; or
 2-1                       (B)  a pension that vested before the date the
 2-2     person is finally convicted of the offense.
 2-3           (c)  On sentencing a person to a term of imprisonment in the
 2-4     institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,
 2-5     the court shall inform the person of the consequence of the
 2-6     sentence imposed as it relates to the person's eligibility to
 2-7     receive state benefits.
 2-8           SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to
 2-9     a person convicted of an offense committed on or after the
2-10     effective date of this Act.  A person convicted of an offense
2-11     committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the
2-12     law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
2-13     continued in effect for that purpose.  For purposes of this
2-14     section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
2-15     Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
2-16           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.