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By: Allen, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 2668
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2003;
May 7, 2003, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 20, 2003, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 20, 2003, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment and sentencing of defendants convicted
of certain offenses under the Texas Controlled Substances Act.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 15(a) and (c), Article 42.12, Code of
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a)(1) On conviction of a state jail felony under Section
481.115(b), 481.1151(b)(1), 481.116(b), 481.121(b)(3), or
481.129(g)(1), Health and Safety Code, that is punished under
Section 12.35(a), Penal Code, the judge shall suspend the
imposition of the sentence and place the defendant on community
supervision, unless the defendant has previously been convicted of
a felony, in which event 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 provisions of this
subdivision requiring the judge to suspend the imposition of the
sentence and place the defendant on community supervision do not
apply to a defendant who under Section 481.1151(b)(1), Health and
Safety Code, possessed more than five abuse units of the controlled
substance or under Section 481.121(b)(3), Health and Safety Code,
possessed more than one pound of marihuana.
(2) On conviction of a state jail felony punished
under Section 12.35(a), Penal Code, other than a state jail felony
listed in Subdivision (1), the judge may suspend the imposition of
the sentence and place the defendant on community supervision or
may order the sentence to be executed.
(3) The judge may suspend in whole or in part the
imposition of any fine imposed on conviction.
(c)(1) A judge may impose any condition of community
supervision on a defendant that the judge could impose on a
defendant placed on supervision for an offense other than a state
jail felony, except that the judge may impose on the defendant a
condition that the defendant submit to a period of confinement in a
county jail under Section 5 or 12 of this article only if the term
does not exceed 90 days.
(2) Except as otherwise provided by Subdivision (3), a
judge who places a defendant on community supervision for an
offense listed in Subsection (a)(1) shall require the defendant to
comply with substance abuse treatment conditions that are
consistent with standards adopted by the Texas Board of Criminal
Justice under Section 509.015, Government Code.
(3) A judge is not required to impose conditions
described by Subdivision (2) if the judge makes an affirmative
finding that the defendant does not require imposition of the
conditions to successfully complete the period of community
supervision.
SECTION 2. Chapter 509, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 509.015 to read as follows:
Sec. 509.015. TREATMENT STANDARDS FOR CERTAIN STATE JAIL
FELONIES. The division shall propose and the board shall adopt best
practices standards for substance abuse treatment conditions
imposed under Section 15(c)(2), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure.
SECTION 3. Not later than October 1, 2003, the Drug Demand
Reduction Advisory Committee created under Chapter 461, Health and
Safety Code, shall inform in writing each court having jurisdiction
over offenses listed in Section 15(a)(1), Article 42.12, Code of
Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, and the office of each
attorney representing the state charged with prosecuting those
offenses of:
(1) the changes in law made by this Act; and
(2) the availability of grants and other sources of
revenue to assist in providing treatment as required by conditions
of community supervision imposed under Section 15(c)(2), Article
42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and
applies to any case in which a judgment has not been entered before
the effective date of this Act. A case in which a judgment has been
entered before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law
in effect when the judgment is entered, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
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