| TO: | Honorable Jerry Madden, Chair, House Committee on Corrections |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB1678 by Madden (Relating to the operation of a system of community supervision. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure by requiring a judge to review a defendant’s record and consider whether to reduce or terminate the period of probation upon completion of one-half of the original community supervision period, or two years of community supervision, whichever is more. If it is determined that the defendant has failed to fulfill the conditions, the judge shall advise the defendant in writing of the requirements for satisfactorily fulfilling those conditions. Additionally, this mandatory judicial review does not apply to a defendant convicted of certain aggravated violent felonies (described by Section 3g, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure), various intoxication offenses, and for offenders required to register as sex offenders.
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure by limiting the maximum term of community supervision to 5 years for third degree felony offenses against property (Title 7 of the Penal Code), third degree felony drug offenses (Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code).
For fiscal year 2006, 34 community supervision placements were convicted of the offense of murder. It is assumed that the provision of the bill that eliminates the possibility of jury recommended community supervision for persons convicted of the offense of murder would shift 21 of the 34 community supervision placements from community supervision to prison.
In order to estimate the future impact of the bill, the changes proposed for admission and release policies are applied in simulation models, to estimate the decrease in the number of people on community supervision resulting from the proposed reduction in maximum periods of community supervision, and decreased prison admissions due to fewer probation revocations.
Assuming that sentencing patterns and release policies not addressed in this bill remain constant, the probable impact of implementing the provisions of the bill during each of the first five years following passage, in terms of daily demand upon the adult corrections agencies, is estimated as follows:
| Fiscal Year | Increase In Demand For Prison/State Jail Capacity | Decrease In Community Supervision Population |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 11 | 11 |
| 2009 | 32 | 32 |
| 2010 | 21 | 626 |
| 2011 | (490) | 12,132 |
| 2012 | (1,403) | 21,048 |
Several provisions of the bill would also specify conditions in which a judge shall give a defendant credit on the defendant’s sentence for the time that the defendant has spent in jail or a substance abuse treatment facility, if the defendant successfully completes the treatment program. These provisions could result in reduced time served in correctional populations depending on the extent to which the provisions are utilized; however such reductions are not included in this analysis.
| Source Agencies: |
| LBB Staff: | JOB, GG
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