BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3529

By: Gutierrez

Corrections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There have been calls to establish a pretrial diversion pilot program directed at addressing individuals who are charged with committing domestic violence and suffer from a substance abuse disorder or chemical dependency. C.S.H.B. 3529 seeks to reduce rates of family violence recidivism and keep families safe by establishing such a pilot program in Bexar County.

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. 3529 amends the Government Code to require the executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), for purposes of reducing the rates of family violence recidivism, to collaborate with judges in Bexar County who have jurisdiction over cases involving family violence to establish a family violence pretrial diversion pilot program for individuals who are charged with an offense involving family violence and who suffer from a substance abuse disorder or chemical dependency. The bill sets out required components of the pilot program. The bill requires TDCJ to review the pilot program and submit a report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the legislature not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year and sets out the requirements of such report. These provisions expire September 1, 2023.

EFFECTIVE DATE

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

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 3529 differs from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways by conforming to certain bill drafting conventions and includes provisions relating to the creation of a family violence pretrial diversion pilot program in Bexar County, but does not include any provisions from the original relating to a domestic violence pilot program.