| TO: | Honorable Jerry Madden, Chair, House Committee on Corrections |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB548 by Ellis (Relating to considerations by the Board of Pardons and Paroles regarding clemency matters.), As Engrossed |
The bill would make several amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Government Code relating to clemency considerations by the Board of Pardons and Paroles regarding a clemency matter in a capital case filed after June 1, 2006.
The bill would allow the Board of Pardons and Paroles to deliberate privately, but would require public announcement of individual members' decisions as to whether to recommend clemency following the meeting.
In capital cases, the bill would allow the Board to meet as a body, meet by telephone conference call, or meet by videoconference call. Regardless of the meeting type, the Board of Pardons and Paroles would be required to allow the attorney or other inmate representative and any person representing the victim's family to attend and make a presentation at the clemency hearing. The meeting must be conducted at the correctional facility where the inmate is housed, and the inmate shall be allowed to attend, unless security concerns dictate otherwise. The bill would take effect immediately if receiving a vote of two-thirds of all members elected to each house, or September 1, 2005.
| Source Agencies: | 696 Department of Criminal Justice
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, KJG, VDS, AM
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