78R5901 GWK-D
By: Hodge H.B. No. 1715
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operations of the Board of Pardons and Paroles and
the pardons and paroles division of the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice and to the supervision of persons released on
parole or mandatory supervision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 508.040, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
follows:
(a) The policy board shall employ and supervise:
(1) a general counsel to the board;
(2) a board administrator to manage the day-to-day
activities of the board;
(3) hearing officers and administrative officers;
(4) personnel to assist in clemency matters; and
(5) secretarial or clerical personnel.
(f) The policy board shall ensure that a sufficient number
of administrative officers are stationed at each facility operated
by or under contract with the department, other than state jail
felony facilities, as necessary to:
(1) maintain the accuracy and integrity of information
about inmates in possession of the board or the department that is
used in the parole decision process;
(2) provide information about the parole decision
process to inmates housed in the facility; and
(3) perform other duties assigned by the policy board
relating to the reintegration of releasees into society.
SECTION 2. Section 508.141, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) If after a parole panel makes a decision regarding the
release of an inmate on parole additional information is received
that is relevant as to whether the inmate should be under
supervision as a releasee or should be imprisoned, only the parole
panel that made the initial decision may review the additional
information.
SECTION 3. Section 508.144(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The board shall:
(1) develop according to an acceptable research method
the parole guidelines that are the basic criteria on which a parole
decision is made;
(2) base the guidelines on:
(A) the seriousness of the offense;
(B) the average time of imprisonment served for
the offense; and
(C) the likelihood of a favorable parole outcome;
(3) implement the guidelines; and
(4) review the guidelines periodically.
SECTION 4. Section 508.155, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 508.155. COMPLETION OF PAROLE OR MANDATORY SUPERVISION
PERIOD; EARLY TERMINATION. (a) To complete a parole period or a
period of mandatory supervision, a releasee other than a releasee
granted early termination of supervision must serve the entire
period of parole.
(b) The time on parole is computed as calendar time.
(c) The division may recommend that a parole panel grant a
releasee early termination of supervision if the releasee has been
under supervision for five years or if the calendar time served in
the institutional division by the releasee before release and the
calendar time served under supervision by the releasee after
release equals two-thirds of the releasee's sentence. The parole
panel shall review the recommendation and may order or deny early
termination of supervision.
(d) A releasee who is granted early termination under
Subsection (c) has the same status as a releasee who completes a
parole period or period of mandatory supervision by serving the
entire period of parole or mandatory supervision. [The division
may allow a releasee to serve the remainder of the releasee's
sentence without supervision and without being required to report
if:
[(1) the releasee has been under supervision for at
least one-half of the time that remained on the releasee's sentence
when the releasee was released from imprisonment;
[(2) during the period of supervision the releasee's
parole or release to mandatory supervision has not been revoked;
and
[(3) the division determines:
[(A) that the releasee has made a good faith
effort to comply with any restitution order imposed on the releasee
by a court; and
[(B) that allowing the releasee to serve the
remainder of the releasee's sentence without supervision and
reporting is in the best interest of society.
[(d) The division may require a person released from
supervision and reporting under Subsection (c) to resubmit to
supervision and resume reporting at any time and for any reason.]
SECTION 5. Section 508.251(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Instead of the issuance of a warrant under this section,
the division shall [may] issue to the person a summons requiring the
person to appear for a hearing under Section 508.281 unless the
person is a releasee who is on intensive supervision or
superintensive supervision, who is an absconder, or who is
determined by the division to be a threat to public safety. The
summons must state the time, date, place, and purpose of the
hearing.
SECTION 6. Section 508.252, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 508.252. GROUNDS FOR ISSUANCE OF WARRANT OR SUMMONS. A
warrant or summons may be issued under Section 508.251 if:
(1) there is reason to believe that the person has been
released although not eligible for release;
(2) the person has been arrested for an offense;
(3) there is a document that is self-authenticating as
provided by Rule 902, Texas Rules of Evidence, stating that the
person violated a rule or condition of release; or
(4) there is reliable evidence that the person has
exhibited behavior during the person's release that indicates to a
reasonable person that the person poses a danger to society that
warrants the person's immediate return to custody.
SECTION 7. Section 508.181, Government Code, is repealed.
SECTION 8. (a) The Board of Pardons and Paroles Policy
Board shall update parole guidelines to meet the requirements of
Section 508.144(a)(2), Government Code, as amended by this Act, not
later than October 1, 2003.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 508.155,
Government Code, applies to a releasee on parole or mandatory
supervision on or after the effective date of this Act, regardless
of whether the releasee was released on parole or mandatory
supervision before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
(c) The change in law made by this Act to Sections 508.251
and 508.252, Government Code, applies only to a releasee who on or
after the effective date of this Act is charged with a violation of
release. A releasee who before the effective date of this Act is
charged with a violation is covered by the law in effect when the
violation is charged, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
(d) The repeal by this Act of Section 508.181, Government
Code, applies to conditions imposed on persons released on parole
or mandatory supervision on or after the effective date of this Act,
except that a person released on parole or mandatory supervision
before the effective date of this Act may request the Board of
Pardons and Paroles to modify conditions of the person's release
requiring the person to reside in a particular county.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.