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79R8524 GWK-D
By: Madden H.B. No. 2193
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operation of a system of community supervision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 3(b) and (d), Article 42.12, Code of
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (f), in a felony case
the minimum period of community supervision is one half of [the same
as] the minimum term of imprisonment applicable to the offense and
the maximum period of community supervision is five [10] years.
(d) A judge may increase the maximum period of community
supervision in the manner provided by Section 22(c) or 22A of this
article, but, except as provided by Section 22A, the maximum period
of community supervision may not exceed 10 years.
SECTION 2. Section 5(a), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d) of this section,
when in the judge's opinion the best interest of society and the
defendant will be served, the judge may, after receiving a plea of
guilty or plea of nolo contendere, hearing the evidence, and
finding that it substantiates the defendant's guilt, defer further
proceedings without entering an adjudication of guilt, and place
the defendant on community supervision. A judge may place on
community supervision under this section a defendant charged with
an offense under Section 21.11, 22.011, or 22.021, Penal Code,
regardless of the age of the victim, or a defendant charged with a
felony described by Section 13B(b) of this article, only if the
judge makes a finding in open court that placing the defendant on
community supervision is in the best interest of the victim. The
failure of the judge to find that deferred adjudication is in the
best interest of the victim is not grounds for the defendant to set
aside the plea, deferred adjudication, or any subsequent conviction
or sentence. After placing the defendant on community supervision
under this section, the judge shall inform the defendant orally or
in writing of the possible consequences under Subsection (b) of
this section of a violation of community supervision. If the
information is provided orally, the judge must record and maintain
the judge's statement to the defendant. The failure of a judge to
inform a defendant of possible consequences under Subsection (b) of
this section is not a ground for reversal unless the defendant shows
that he was harmed by the failure of the judge to provide the
information. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, in
[In] a felony case, the period of community supervision may not
exceed five [10] years. For a defendant charged with a felony under
Section 21.11, 22.011, or 22.021, Penal Code, regardless of the age
of the victim, and for a defendant charged with a felony described
by Section 13B(b) of this article, the period of community
supervision may not be less than five years or more than 10 years,
except as provided by Section 22A. In a misdemeanor case, the
period of community supervision may not exceed two years. A judge
may increase the maximum period of community supervision in the
manner provided by Section 22(c) or 22A of this article. The judge
may impose a fine applicable to the offense and require any
reasonable conditions of community supervision, including mental
health treatment under Section 11(d) of this article, that a judge
could impose on a defendant placed on community supervision for a
conviction that was probated and suspended, including confinement.
The provisions of Section 15 of this article specifying whether a
defendant convicted of a state jail felony is to be confined in a
county jail or state jail felony facility and establishing the
minimum and maximum terms of confinement as a condition of
community supervision apply in the same manner to a defendant
placed on community supervision after pleading guilty or nolo
contendere to a state jail felony. However, upon written motion of
the defendant requesting final adjudication filed within 30 days
after entering such plea and the deferment of adjudication, the
judge shall proceed to final adjudication as in all other cases.
SECTION 3. Section 6(a), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) For the purposes of this section, the jurisdiction of a
court in which a sentence requiring imprisonment in the
institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
is imposed by the judge of the court shall continue for two years
[180 days] from the date the execution of the sentence actually
begins. Before the expiration of two years [180 days] from the date
the execution of the sentence actually begins, the judge of the
court that imposed such sentence may on his own motion, on the
motion of the attorney representing the state, or on the written
motion of the defendant, suspend further execution of the sentence
and place the defendant on community supervision under the terms
and conditions of this article, if in the opinion of the judge the
defendant would not benefit from further imprisonment and:
(1) the defendant is otherwise eligible for community
supervision under this article; and
(2) the defendant had never before been incarcerated
in a penitentiary serving a sentence for a felony.
SECTION 4. Section 20(a), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) At any time before the expiration of the term of
community supervision, if in the judge's opinion the best interest
of society and the defendant will be served, [after the defendant
has satisfactorily completed one-third of the original community
supervision period or two years of community supervision, whichever
is less,] the period of community supervision may be reduced or
terminated by the judge. Upon the satisfactory fulfillment of the
conditions of community supervision, and the expiration of the
period of community supervision, the judge, by order duly entered,
shall amend or modify the original sentence imposed, if necessary,
to conform to the community supervision period and shall discharge
the defendant. If the judge discharges the defendant under this
section, the judge may set aside the verdict or permit the defendant
to withdraw his plea, and shall dismiss the accusation, complaint,
information or indictment against the defendant, who shall
thereafter be released from all penalties and disabilities
resulting from the offense or crime of which he has been convicted
or to which he has pleaded guilty, except that:
(1) proof of the conviction or plea of guilty shall be
made known to the judge should the defendant again be convicted of
any criminal offense; and
(2) if the defendant is an applicant for a license or
is a licensee under Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, the Texas
Department of Human Services may consider the fact that the
defendant previously has received community supervision under this
article in issuing, renewing, denying, or revoking a license under
that chapter.
SECTION 5. Section 23(b), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(b) A judge may credit against any term of confinement a
defendant is sentenced to serve under this section all or [No] part
of the time that the defendant served [is] on community supervision
[shall be considered as any part of the time that he shall be
sentenced to serve]. The right of the defendant to appeal for a
review of the conviction and punishment, as provided by law, shall
be accorded the defendant at the time he is placed on community
supervision. When he is notified that his community supervision is
revoked for violation of the conditions of community supervision
and he is called on to serve a sentence in a jail or in the
institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,
he may appeal the revocation.
SECTION 6. Section 76.002(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The district judge or district judges trying criminal
cases in each judicial district and the statutory county court
judge or judges trying criminal cases in the county or counties
served by the judicial district shall:
(1) establish a community supervision and corrections
department; and
(2) approve the department's budget and community
justice plan [employ district personnel as necessary to conduct
presentence investigations, supervise and rehabilitate defendants
placed on community supervision, enforce the conditions of
community supervision, and staff community corrections
facilities].
SECTION 7. Chapter 509, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 509.016 to read as follows:
Sec. 509.016. PRISON DIVERSION PILOT PROGRAM. The division
shall establish a pilot program that provides grants to selected
departments for the implementation of a system of progressive
sanctions designed to reduce the revocation rate of defendants
placed on community supervision. The division shall give priority
in providing grants to departments serving counties in which the
revocation rate for defendants on community supervision
significantly exceeds the statewide average.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.