The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure by requiring a judge to suspend the imposition of a sentence and place a defendant on community supervision for a drug possession offense if the offense is punishable as a felony of the third degree or any lower category of offense.  The bill would also specify conditions in which the judge would not be required to suspend the sentence and place a defendant on community supervision.  A court granting community supervision as a result of the bill would require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant participate in a drug treatment program and pay a fee to cover all or part of the cost of the program based on the defendant’s ability to pay.  The bill would specify revocation conditions for a defendant’s violation of the terms of community supervision relating to the revocation of supervision.  

The bill would also amend the Government Code by limiting the ability of a parole panel to revoke the parole or mandatory supervision of a releasee based on the commission of a drug possession offense or a violation of a drug-related condition of release.  A parole panel that modifies a releasee’s conditions of release in response to the releasee’s commission of a new drug possession offense or a violation of a drug-related condition of release shall modify the conditions as necessary to require that the releasee participate in a drug treatment program.  The releasee would be required to pay a fee to cover all or part of the cost of the program based on the releasee’s ability to pay. 

For fiscal year 2006, 3,533 admissions to prison and 9,079 admissions to state jail were for drug possession offenses punishable as a felony of the third degree or lower.  The bill specifies a number of conditions in which the judge would not be required to suspend the sentence and place a defendant on community supervision.  Based on fiscal year 2006 admissions data, 39% of state jail and third degree felony drug possession admissions had previously been convicted of a felony offense, therefore to approximate the conditions that would exclude the application of the bill, it was assumed that 61% of the 12,612 admissions would be placed on community supervision rather than being admitted to prison or state jail.   

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: