Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB883 by Whitmire (Relating to awarding credit to an inmate for certain time between release on and revocation of parole, mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Government Code as it relates to awarding good time to certain inmates for time between release on and revocation of parole, mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon. Under the provisions of the bill, all offenders would receive credit for the time spent on parole prior to revocation.
Awarding credit for time served while on parole prior to revocation is expected to result in decreased demands upon the correctional resources of the State due to shorter terms of confinement in prison. In fiscal year 2010, there were 6,678 revocations of parole supervision belonging to 6,651 offenders. Of the 6,651 offenders subject to the provisions of the bill, 1,245 offenders would have completed their sentence if they received credit for time served while on parole prior to revocation leaving 5,406 offenders returning to prison to serve shorter terms of incarceration (approximately 2.67 years) and for those released to parole supervision, subsequently shorter terms supervision.
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: