78R7415 GWK-F

By:  Dunnam                                                       H.B. No. 1672



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the imposition of community supervision on a defendant 
convicted of a state jail felony.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Section 15(a), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal 
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	(a)(1)  On conviction of a state jail felony punished under 
Section 12.35(a), Penal Code, the judge may suspend the imposition 
of the sentence and place the defendant on community supervision or 
may order the sentence to be executed.  The judge may suspend in 
whole or in part the imposition of any fine imposed on conviction.
		(2)  A jury that imposes confinement under Section 
12.35(a), Penal Code, as punishment for a state jail felony may 
recommend to the judge that the judge suspend the imposition of the 
sentence and place the defendant on community supervision.  A judge 
shall suspend the imposition of the sentence and place the 
defendant on community supervision if the jury makes that 
recommendation in the verdict.  A defendant is eligible for 
community supervision under this subsection 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.
	SECTION 2.   The change in law made by this Act applies only 
to the trial of a state jail felony that begins on or after the 
effective date of this Act.  The trial of a state jail felony that 
begins before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law 
in effect when the trial began, and the former law is continued in 
effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.   This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.