BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1710

By: Canales

Corrections

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

During the 83rd Legislature, the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence examined the effectiveness of community supervision in state jail felony facilities. The committee's interim report recommended that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) notify the sentencing court of the date on which the defendant finishes serving 75 days in a state jail. Currently, judges who sentence a defendant to state jail are not notified when the defendant is transferred from county to state jail to start their sentence, which may cause the defendant to serve longer sentences than the judges may have intended. H.B. 1710 requires TDCJ to notify a sentencing court judge when a defendant has served 75 days in a state jail felony.

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

H.B. 1710 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), for purposes of provisions authorizing a judge to place a defendant on community supervision at any time after the 75th day after the date the defendant is received into the custody of a state jail felony facility, to provide notice to a judge, not later than the 60th day after the date a defendant is received into that custody, of the date on which the defendant will have served 75 days in the facility, if requested by the judge. The notice must be provided by email or other electronic communication. The bill authorizes a judge to submit a single request to TDCJ with respect to all applicable defendants sentenced in the judge's court. The bill applies only to a defendant who receives a sentence of confinement in a state jail felony facility on or after the bill's effective date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.