H.B. No. 32
AN ACT
relating to certain writs of habeas corpus based solely on a claim
of a time-served credit error.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 4(a), Article 11.07, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) If a subsequent application for writ of habeas corpus
regarding a conviction, other than an application based solely on a
claim of a time-served credit error, is filed after final
disposition of an initial application challenging the same
conviction, a court may not consider the merits of or grant relief
based on the subsequent application unless the application contains
sufficient specific facts establishing that:
(1) the current claims and issues have not been and
could not have been presented previously in an original application
or in a previously considered application filed under this article
because the factual or legal basis for the claim was unavailable on
the date the applicant filed the previous application; or
(2) by a preponderance of the evidence, but for a
violation of the United States Constitution no rational juror could
have found the applicant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
SECTION 2. Section 501.0081(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to an inmate who,
according to the department's computations, is within 180 days of
the inmate's presumptive parole date, date of release on mandatory
supervision, or date of discharge. An inmate described by this
subsection may raise a claim of time-served credit error by filing a
complaint under the system described by Subsection (a) or[, if an
application for a writ of habeas corpus is not otherwise barred,] by
raising the claim in an [that] application for a writ of habeas
corpus.
SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act to Section
4(a), Article 11.07, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies only to an
application for a writ of habeas corpus filed on or after the
effective date of this Act. An application for a writ of habeas
corpus filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect before the effective date of this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for this purpose.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section
501.0081(c), Government Code, applies only to a claim made on or
after the effective date of this Act that alleges a time-served
credit error, as described by Section 501.0081, Government Code, as
amended by this Act. A claim made before the effective date of this
Act that alleges a time-served credit error is covered by the law in
effect when the claim is made, and the former law is continued in
effect for this purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 32 was passed by the House on April 3,
2003, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 32 was passed by the Senate on May 28,
2003, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor