78R5912 GWK-D

By:  Hodge                                                        H.B. No. 1474



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to awards of administrative good conduct time and the 
advancement of parole eligibility dates for certain inmates of the 
Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Sections 499.022(a) and (c), Government Code, 
are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  The purpose of this subchapter is to:                                     
		(1)  allow the institutional division the flexibility 
to house inmates in appropriate settings and determine the proper 
amount of available housing;  and
		(2)  provide the executive branch with alternatives to 
appropriately balance population, consistent with the intent of 
this subchapter, if the population of the division reaches 90 [95] 
percent of capacity or if a backlog of convicted felons exists in 
the county jails in this state, as determined by this subchapter.
	(c)  This subchapter does not:                                                 
		(1)  create a right on the part of an inmate confined in 
the institutional division to serve the inmate's sentence in a 
department with a population below 90 [95] percent of capacity, as 
determined by this subchapter;
		(2)  grant to an inmate the right to be released or to 
be considered for release if the inmate population of the division 
reaches 90 [95] percent of capacity as determined under this 
subchapter;
		(3)  require a population level below 90 [95] percent 
of capacity as determined by this subchapter;  or
		(4)  require the board or the Board of Pardons and 
Paroles to take an action under this subchapter because a backlog of 
convicted felons exists in the county jails in this state.
	SECTION 2.  Sections 499.025(a) and (b), Government Code, 
are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  If the inmate population of the institutional division 
reaches 89 [99] percent or more of capacity, the director shall 
immediately notify the executive director and the board in writing 
of that fact.  Until the inmate population is reduced to less than 
89 [99] percent of capacity, the director shall make a weekly 
written report to the executive director and the board stating the 
extent to which the inmate population is less than, equal to, or in 
excess of capacity.
	(b)  If the inmate population of the institutional division 
reaches 90 [100] percent of capacity or, if the attorney general has 
authorized an increase in the permissible percentage of capacity 
under Section 499.109, the inmate population reaches that increased 
permissible percentage, the director shall immediately notify the 
executive director, the board, and the attorney general in writing 
of that fact.  The attorney general shall certify to the board in 
writing as to whether the institutional division has reached 90 
[100] percent of capacity or, if applicable, the increased 
permissible percentage.  If the attorney general certifies that 90 
[100] percent of capacity has been reached or, if applicable, that 
the increased permissible percentage has been reached, the board 
shall immediately certify that an emergency overcrowding situation 
exists and direct the Board of Pardons and Paroles to proceed in the 
manner described by Subsection (c).  If the Commission on Jail 
Standards determines that in any county jail in this state there 
exists an inmate awaiting transfer to the institutional division 
following conviction of a felony or revocation of community 
supervision [probation], parole, or release on mandatory 
supervision and for whom all paperwork and processing required for 
transfer have been completed for not less than 45 days, the board 
may direct the Board of Pardons and Paroles to proceed in the manner 
described by Subsection (c).
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.