TO:	Honorable Abel Herrero, Chair, House Committee on Corrections
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB1064 by Sherman, Sr. (Relating to the award of good conduct time to certain inmates; changing parole eligibility.), As Introduced

The bill would authorize the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to grant good conduct time for good behavior as demonstrated by compliance with all applicable department rules. The bill would amend the parole eligibility criteria for certain individuals for which current law does not authorize the consideration of good conduct time to include good conduct time accrued through participation in certain programming. The bill would apply to an individual confined in a state correctional institution on or after the bill's effective date, regardless of whether the offense for which they are confined occurred before, on, or after the effective date.

Allowing for earlier consideration for release onto parole may result in reduced demands upon state correctional resources due to a possible decrease in the length of stay for individuals sentenced to a term of confinement.

On August 31, 2022, there were 17,873 individuals confined within a state correctional institution who would have become eligible for release onto parole based on the bill's provisions that would include the consideration of good conduct accrued through participation in certain programming. 

The impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources cannot be determined due to a lack of data to estimate good conduct time that may be granted for demonstrating good behavior, the rate of approval for release onto parole for individuals who would be eligible under the bill's provisions, the subsequent number of individuals released, and the timing of such release.