BILL ANALYSIS |
H.B. 1685 |
By: Hughes |
Corrections |
Committee Report (Unamended) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Current law authorizes a judge to order a defendant, in lieu of community service hours, to make a donation to a nonprofit food bank or food pantry in the community in which the defendant resides for purposes of satisfying a community supervision condition. Interested parties contend that this law is too restrictive for communities in which a food bank or food pantry may not exist or in which other worthy nonprofit organizations also provide charitable services to the community. H.B. 1685 seeks to remedy this situation.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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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.
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ANALYSIS
H.B. 1685 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize a judge to order a defendant, in lieu of requiring the defendant to work a specified number of hours at a community service project in satisfaction of a condition of community supervision and as an alternative to ordering such a defendant to make a specified donation to a nonprofit food bank or food pantry, to make a specified donation to another nonprofit organization that provides services or assistance to needy individuals and families in the community in which the defendant resides and is a charitable organization exempted from federal income tax under the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.
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