Honorable Andrew S. Murr, Chair, House Committee on Corrections
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB953 by Allen (Relating to the award of diligent participation credit to defendants confined in a state jail felony facility.), As Introduced
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure as it relates to awarding diligent participation credit to individuals serving a term of confinement for a state jail felony offense. Under the provisions of the bill, a judge would no longer be required to find an individual confined in a state jail facility presumptively eligible for diligent participation credit. Instead, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) would be required to grant those confined in state jails full diligent participation credit minus any days those confined were in disciplinary status. A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000 or a Class A misdemeanor punishment.
Under current statute, the TDCJ collects information on the diligent participation of those confined in state jail facilities for each day the individual participates in educational, vocational, treatment, or work programs. These individuals are able to receive credit for a maximum of 20 percent of their sentence length. For some individuals, a judgement can contain a finding that the incarcerated individual is presumptively entitled to diligent participation credit. For those without a presumptive finding, when the individual has served almost 80 percent of the sentence, TDCJ provide the sentencing court with individual level program participation information and the judge may grant diligent time credit. From fiscal years 2018 through 2020, an average of 35.7 percent of people released with state jail felony offenses had a presumptive finding. From fiscal years 2018 through 2020, an average of 23.4 diligent participation credit days were awarded.
To calculate the additional diligent participation credit that could be awarded to those within state jails, we analyzed those with state jail felony sentences released from fiscal years 2018 through 2020. Individuals with consecutive sentences, presumptive findings to receive diligent participation credit, or those who received the maximum allowed 20 percent of their sentence length were excluded from our analysis. We then calculated how many additional time credit days could be utilized by subtracting any amount of days an individual may already receive under current statute from the maximum 20 percent. The additional days were adjusted based on the projections published in the January 2021 Adult and Juvenile Correctional Population Projections report and the average time lag from offense to admission for a state jail felony. This analysis assumes individuals receive the maximum amount allowed. These diligent credit days and the resulting savings could be reduced based on the disciplinary status and number of days those confined were ineligible to earn the time credit as outlined in the bill's provisions. Assuming that sentencing patterns and release policies not addressed in this bill will return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic functions by the end of fiscal year 2022, the probable impact of implementing the provisions of the bill during each of the first five fiscal years following passage, in terms of demand upon the adult corrections agencies, is estimated as follows: