BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1337

By: Bonnen, Dennis

Corrections

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The Board of Pardons and Paroles is currently required to adopt a policy designating the date on which the board may reconsider for release on parole an inmate who has previously been denied release. Under the policy, the date must fall within a designated month between the first anniversary of the date of the denial and the fifth anniversary of that date. While the law generally requires an inmate's release to be reconsidered as soon after the first anniversary as practicable, certain inmates are excluded from earlier reconsideration because of the severity of the offense for which they were incarcerated. Interested parties express concern that capital murder and aggravated sexual assault are not among the offenses that disqualify at inmate from earlier reconsideration. H.B. 1337 seeks to address this issue.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 1337 amends the Government Code to extend the period during which the Board of Pardons and Paroles must reconsider for release on parole an inmate ineligible for mandatory supervision who is serving a sentence for aggravated sexual assault or is sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment for life on conviction of a capital felony from the fifth anniversary of the date that a parole panel denied release to the 10th anniversary of the date of the denial. The bill requires the board to adopt a policy establishing the date on which the board may consider for release an inmate who has previously been denied release that is consistent with the bill's provisions as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.