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78R418 KEL-F


By:  Hodge                                                        H.B. No. 32 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

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.