BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2481

By: Metcalf

Corrections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been noted that a veteran participating in a veterans treatment court program does not necessarily receive treatment near the veteran's home because the underlying criminal charges are not always incurred in a veteran's home county. There are concerns that a veteran's participation in the program may be adversely affected when the veteran is not near the veteran's residence or workplace. C.S.H.B. 2481 seeks to address this problem by authorizing a veterans treatment court program to transfer responsibility for supervising a defendant's participation in the program to another program closer to the defendant's residence or workplace.

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. 2481 amends the Government Code to authorize a veterans treatment court program to transfer responsibility for supervising a defendant's participation in the program to another program located in a county adjacent to the county where the defendant works or resides, if the program and the defendant consent. The bill authorizes a court to place the defendant in a program located in such an adjacent county if the county in which the defendant is charged with an offense does not operate a program and the defendant agrees to the placement.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2481 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 does not include any provisions relating to deferred adjudication community supervision with respect to certain intoxication offenses, relating to an order of nondisclosure of criminal history record information, or relating to the presumption of conviction of certain intoxication offenses for a person placed on deferred adjudication community supervision.

The substitute does not include an authorization for a court placing a defendant in a veterans treatment court program in a county that does not operate a veterans treatment court program to enforce the rules, requirements, and instructions of that program.

The substitute changes the bill's effective date.