TO:	Honorable Jerry Madden, Chair, House Committee on Corrections
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB1512 by Haggerty (Relating to the reduction or termination of the period of community supervision imposed on a defendant.), As Introduced

The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure providing that a court could grant early termination at any time for a probationer placed on “regular” community supervision.  The bill further provides that defendants placed on “regular” community supervision for an intoxication offense, an offense for which the person must register as a sex offense, or a state jail felony offense would be eligible for early termination and could be allowed to withdraw their plea of guilt or have the verdict set aside and then have the court dismiss all criminal charges.
 
Under the present law, in order for a probationer placed on “regular” community supervision to be eligible for early termination, the person must have satisfactorily completed one-third of the original community supervision period or two years, whichever is less.  Also under the present law, defendants convicted of intoxication offenses, state jail felony offenses, or offenses for which they must register as a sex offender are ineligible for consideration for early termination and having completed the term of their community supervision, cannot withdraw their plea of guilty or have the verdict set aside and then have the court dismiss all charges filed against them.
 
The early termination rate for fiscal year 2006 was 3.1%.  The impact of the bill could significantly decrease supervision caseloads depending on the application of the provisions.  However, due to the infrequency with which early termination is currently applied, the impact of the bill is not expected to be significant.