BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3731

By: Leach

Corrections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties contend that the legislature has an obligation to ensure that state and local law enforcement agencies in Texas have adequate tools to keep communities safe and strong, including providing real-time information related to the release on parole of certain individuals under the supervision of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and proper notification when certain arrest warrants are issued by TDCJ. C.S.H.B. 3731 seeks to provide for such access and notification.

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.

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

C.S.H.B. 3731 amends the Government Code to require the pardons and parole division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to establish and maintain a database for the purpose of providing real time information about releasees to criminal justice agencies. The bill sets out the identifying information about a releasee the database must contain and requires the database to be updated as soon as practicable after a parole officer learns of a change in any such information. The bill authorizes the division, in establishing the database, to utilize an existing database that is maintained by TDCJ.

C.S.H.B. 3731 expands the required contents of the notice given by the division in relation to an order of release on parole or recommendation of executive clemency to include the inmate's age, sex, and race; a photograph of the inmate; and, if applicable, the address at which the inmate will reside, the name of the inmate's parole supervisor or the director of the halfway house to which the inmate is transferred, as appropriate, and the rules or conditions of the inmate's release. The bill requires TDCJ to provide notice of a warrant issued in a case of parole or mandatory supervision to each law enforcement agency whose jurisdiction includes the residence of the releasee, according to TDCJ records.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2015.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 3731 differs from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways by conforming to certain bill drafting conventions.