88R5590 CJD-D

By: Leach H.B. No. 1742

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to increasing the minimum term of imprisonment and changing the eligibility for community supervision, mandatory supervision, and parole for persons convicted of intoxication manslaughter.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as Lauren and CJ's Law.

SECTION 2. Section 49.08(b), Penal Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Except as provided by Section 49.09, an offense under this section is a felony of the second degree with a minimum term of imprisonment of five years.

SECTION 3. Article 42A.401, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(a) A judge granting community supervision to a defendant convicted of an offense under Chapter 49, Penal Code, shall require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant submit to:

(1) not less than 72 hours of continuous confinement in county jail if the defendant was punished under Section 49.09(a), Penal Code;

(2) not less than five days of confinement in county jail if the defendant was punished under Section 49.09(a), Penal Code, and was subject to Section 49.09(h), Penal Code;

(3) not less than 10 days of confinement in county jail if the defendant was punished under Section 49.09(b), Penal Code;

(4) not less than 30 days of confinement in county jail if the defendant was convicted of an offense under Section 49.07, Penal Code; or

(5) subject to Subsection (c), a term of imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice [confinement] of not less than five years [120 days] if the defendant was convicted of an offense under Section 49.08, Penal Code.

(c) A judge granting community supervision to a defendant who was convicted of an offense under Section 49.08, Penal Code, may reduce the minimum term of imprisonment required under Subsection (a)(5) to a minimum term of imprisonment of not less than two years if the judge:

(1) makes a finding that the best interest of the community would be served and the public would not be harmed by the reduction; and

(2) enters that finding on the record.

SECTION 4. Section 508.145, Government Code, is amended by adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:

(e-1) An inmate serving a sentence under Section 49.08, Penal Code, is not eligible for release on parole until the actual calendar time served, without consideration of good conduct time, equals five years.

SECTION 5. Section 508.147, Government Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1) and Section 508.149, a parole panel shall order the release of an inmate who is not on parole to mandatory supervision when the actual calendar time the inmate has served plus any accrued good conduct time equals the term to which the inmate was sentenced.

(a-1) An inmate serving a sentence under Section 49.08, Penal Code, may not be released to mandatory supervision unless:

(1) the inmate's actual calendar time served, without consideration of good conduct time, equals at least five years; and

(2) the inmate is otherwise eligible for release under Subsection (a).

SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.