BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 374

By: Allen

Corrections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been noted that defendants placed on community supervision may have difficulty in securing consistent employment while complying with certain conditions of their community supervision. C.S.H.B. 374 seeks to establish a community supervision and corrections department policy that would require supervision officers to accommodate the work, treatment, or community service schedule of a defendant when scheduling required meetings with the defendant.

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. 374 amends the Government Code to require a community supervision and corrections department (CSCD) to adopt, not later than January 1, 2020, a policy regarding the scheduling of meetings or visits with a defendant placed on community supervision and supervised by the CSCD. The bill requires such a policy to require the officer supervising the defendant to take into consideration the defendant's work, treatment, or community service schedule, as applicable, when scheduling any required meetings or visits. The bill authorizes a CSCD to permit a defendant to report to the supervising officer by use of videoconference technology if the CSCD determines that an in-person meeting or visit is unnecessary.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 374 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a provision authorizing a CSCD to permit a defendant to use videoconference technology to meet with the supervising officer.