78R6352 KCR-F

By:  Riddle                                                       H.B. No. 1299



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the eligibility of certain criminal defendants for 
release on community supervision.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 4(e), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal 
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	(e)  A defendant is eligible for community supervision under 
this section only if before the trial begins the defendant files a 
written sworn motion with the judge that the defendant has not 
previously been convicted of a felony in this or any other state, 
and the jury enters in the verdict a finding that the information in 
the defendant's motion is true.  For purposes of this subsection, a 
conviction includes an adjudication by a juvenile court under 
Section 54.03, Family Code, that a child engaged in delinquent 
conduct constituting a felony, if as a result of the adjudication 
the child is committed to the Texas Youth Commission under Section 
54.04(d)(2), (d)(3), or (m) or Section 54.05(f), Family Code.
	SECTION 2.  (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                       
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to an 
offense committed on or after September 1, 2003.  An offense 
committed before September 1, 2003, is covered by the law in effect 
when the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in 
effect for that purpose.  For the purposes of this subsection, an 
offense was committed before September 1, 2003, if any element of 
the offense was committed before that date.