BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2145

By: Allen

Corrections

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) may identify issues that may prevent an individual incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) from successfully returning to their community, based on interviews conducted under that individual's individual treatment plan (ITP). When considering release, the BPP requires individuals to enroll in and successfully complete programs that address issues highlighted in the ITP, such as substance abuse or alcohol abuse. While TDCJ is tasked with providing the mandated programming, either by contracting with private vendors or through classes offered by the Windham Independent School District, details on the required programs are only available through open records requests. C.S.H.B. 2145 seeks to provide for better access to this information by requiring the BPP and TDCJ to make information on classes and programs required for release on parole available on their websites.

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. 2145 amends the Government Code to require the Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to publish on their websites certain specified information for each class or program that the BPP requires an inmate to complete before releasing the inmate on parole.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2021.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2145 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 require the curriculum for the class or program an inmate must complete before release on parole to be published on the BPP and TDCJ websites, which was required by the original. Whereas the original required publication on those websites of information on the contract between TDCJ and a private vendor for a class or program provided by such a vendor and the vendor's history of providing the class or program at other correctional facilities, the substitute instead requires the publication on those websites of whether the class or program is provided by TDCJ or a private vendor.