Honorable Terry Keel, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1860 by Uresti (Relating to the authority of a judge to reduce or terminate the community supervision of a defendant convicted of an offense punishable as a state jail felony.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure by allowing for the reduction or termination of community supervision for defendants convicted of an offense punishable as a state jail felony.
By potentially decreasing the amount of time that would be served by state jail felons placed on community supervision, the bill could potentially decrease the community supervision population and decrease expenses. Such a decrease would depend on the extent to which the reduction or termination option would be used. Of the persons eligible for early release from community supervision who were terminated from supervision in fiscal year 2004, only 3% were released with the early release option. Of the offenders released early from community supervision, almost all had a period of community supervision of 10 years. Defendants placed on community supervision for state jail offenses are placed on supervision for a term of 2 to 5 years. Therefore, the reduction or termination of community supervision option is not likely to have a significant impact on the state jail community supervision population.