78R6236 SLO-F

By:  Williams                                                     S.B. No. 836



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the eligibility for community supervision for a person 
who has been previously committed to the Texas Youth Commission.
	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, an 
adjudication by a juvenile court under Section 54.03, Family Code, 
that a child engaged in delinquent conduct constituting a felony 
offense for which the child was committed to the Texas Youth 
Commission under Section 54.04(d)(2), (d)(3), or (m), Family Code, 
or Section 54.05(f), Family Code, is a conviction.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                      
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to the 
eligibility for community supervision for an offense that is 
committed on or after September 1, 2003.  The eligibility for 
community supervision for an offense that was 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 purposes of this subsection, an offense was committed 
before September 1, 2003, if any element of the offense was 
committed before that date.