By: Menendez (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 221
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 8, 2009;
  May 8, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
  Justice; May 22, 2009, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 22, 2009, sent to printer.)
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to delaying parole eligibility for an individual convicted
  of certain violent offenses who evades arrest and to the punishment
  prescribed for the offense of evading arrest or detention.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 42.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Section 9 to read as follows:
         Sec. 9.  In addition to the information described by Section
  1, the judgment should reflect affirmative findings entered
  pursuant to Article 42.0198.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Article 42.0198 to read as follows:
         Art. 42.0198.  FINDING REGARDING DELAY IN ARREST OF
  DEFENDANT. In the trial of an offense under Section 19.02, 22.011,
  or 22.021, Penal Code, on the motion of the attorney representing
  the state the judge shall make an affirmative finding of fact
  regarding the number of months that elapsed, if any, between the
  date an arrest warrant was issued for the defendant following an
  indictment for the offense and the date the defendant was arrested
  for the offense. The judge shall enter the affirmative finding in
  the judgment in the case.
         SECTION 3.  Section 508.145, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:
         (d-1)  Notwithstanding Subsection (d), for every 12 months
  that elapse between the date an arrest warrant is issued for the
  inmate following an indictment for the offense and the date the
  inmate is arrested for the offense, the earliest date on which an
  inmate is eligible for parole is delayed by three years from the
  date otherwise provided by Subsection (d), if the inmate is serving
  a sentence for an offense under Section 19.02, 22.011, or 22.021,
  Penal Code.
         SECTION 4.  Section 38.04(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (b)  An offense under this section is a Class A [B]
  misdemeanor, except that the offense is:
               (1)  a state jail felony if:
                     (A)  the actor has been previously convicted under
  this section; or
                     (B)  the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in
  flight and the actor has not been previously convicted under this
  section;
               (2)  a felony of the third degree if:
                     (A)  the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in
  flight and the actor has been previously convicted under this
  section; or
                     (B)  another suffers serious bodily injury as a
  direct result of an attempt by the officer from whom the actor is
  fleeing to apprehend the actor while the actor is in flight; or
               (3)  a felony of the second degree if another suffers
  death as a direct result of an attempt by the officer from whom the
  actor is fleeing to apprehend the actor while the actor is in
  flight.
         SECTION 5.  Section 9, Article 42.01, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, and Article 42.0198, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
  added by this Act, apply only to a judgment of conviction entered on
  or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 6.  Section 508.145, Government Code, as amended by
  this Act, applies only to the parole eligibility of an inmate
  serving a sentence for an offense under Section 19.02, 22.011, or
  22.021, Penal Code, committed on or after the effective date of this
  Act. The parole eligibility of an inmate serving a sentence for an
  offense under Section 19.02, 22.011, or 22.021, Penal Code,
  committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
  law in effect at the time the offense was committed, and the former
  law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
  section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
  Act if any element of the offense was committed before that date.
         SECTION 7.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
  An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
  covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
  this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
  this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that
  date.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
 
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