By: Rodríguez, et al.  S.B. No. 380
         (In the Senate - Filed January 28, 2015; February 2, 2015,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
  April 7, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 1; April 7, 2015,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 380 By:  Whitmire
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to procedures for certain persons charged with a violation
  of a condition of release from the Texas Department of Criminal
  Justice on parole or to mandatory supervision.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 508.251(c), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (c)  Instead of the issuance of a warrant under this section,
  the division:
               (1)  may issue to the person a summons requiring the
  person to appear for a hearing under Section 508.281 if the person
  is not a releasee who is:
                     (A)  on intensive supervision or superintensive
  supervision;
                     (B)  an absconder; or
                     (C)  determined by the division to be a threat to
  public safety; and
               (2)  shall issue to the person a summons requiring the
  person to appear for a hearing under Section 508.281 if the person:
                     (A)  is charged only with committing:
                           (i)  an administrative violation of release
  that is alleged to have been committed after the first [third]
  anniversary of the date the person was released on parole or to
  mandatory supervision; or
                           (ii)  a new offense that is alleged to have
  been committed after the first anniversary of the date the person
  was released on parole or to mandatory supervision if:
                                 (a)  the new offense is a Class B or
  Class C misdemeanor, other than an offense committed against a
  child younger than 17 years of age or an offense involving family
  violence, as defined by Section 71.004, Family Code;
                                 (b)  the person has maintained steady
  employment for at least one year;
                                 (c)  the person has maintained a stable
  residence for at least one year; and
                                 (d)  the person has not previously been
  charged with an offense after the person was released on parole or
  to mandatory supervision;
                     (B)  is not serving a sentence for, and has not
  been previously convicted of, an offense listed in or described by
  Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure; and
                     (C)  is not a releasee with respect to whom a
  summons may not be issued under Subdivision (1).
         SECTION 2.  Section 508.281(c), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (c)  If a hearing before a designated agent of the board is
  held under this section for a releasee who appears in compliance
  with a summons, the sheriff of the county in which the releasee is
  required to appear shall provide the designated agent with a place
  at the county jail to hold the hearing. After the board or a parole
  panel makes a final determination [Immediately on conclusion of a
  hearing in which the designated agent determines] that a releasee
  has violated a condition of release, a warrant may be issued
  requiring the releasee to be held in the county jail pending:
               (1)  transfer to an intermediate sanction facility [the
  action of a parole panel on any recommendations made by the
  designated agent]; or [and]
               (2)  [if subsequently ordered by the parole panel,] the
  return of the releasee to the institution from which the releasee
  was released.
         SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act in amending
  Section 508.251(c), Government Code, applies only to a person who
  on or after the effective date of this Act is charged with a
  violation of the terms of the person's release on parole or to
  mandatory supervision. A person who before the effective date of
  this Act was charged with a violation of the terms of the person's
  release is governed by the law in effect when the violation was
  charged, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act in amending
  Section 508.281(c), Government Code, applies only to a hearing held
  on or after the effective date of this Act.  A hearing held before
  the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
  the date the hearing was held, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
 
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