Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB2649 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Allen (Senate Sponsor - Ellis) H.B. No. 2649
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2011;
3	3	May 13, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
4	4	Justice; May 21, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote:
5	5	Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 21, 2011, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the award of diligent participation credit to
11	11	defendants confined in a state jail felony facility.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 15(h), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
14	14	Procedure, is amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding
15	15	Subdivisions (4), (5), and (6) to read as follows:
16	16	(1) A defendant confined in a state jail felony
17	17	facility does not earn good conduct time for time served in the
18	18	facility but may be awarded diligent participation credit in
19	19	accordance with Subdivision (6).
20	20	(4) For purposes of Subdivisions (5) and (6),
21	21	"diligent participation" includes:
22	22	(A) successful completion of an educational,
23	23	vocational, or treatment program;
24	24	(B) progress toward successful completion of an
25	25	educational, vocational, or treatment program that was interrupted
26	26	by illness, injury, or another circumstance outside the control of
27	27	the defendant; and
28	28	(C) active involvement in a work program.
29	29	(5) For a defendant who has participated in an
30	30	educational, vocational, treatment, or work program while confined
31	31	in a state jail felony facility, not later than the 30th day before
32	32	the date on which the defendant will have served 80 percent of the
33	33	defendant's sentence, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
34	34	shall report to the sentencing court the number of days during which
35	35	the defendant diligently participated in any educational,
36	36	vocational, treatment, or work program. The contents of a report
37	37	submitted under this subdivision are not subject to challenge by a
38	38	defendant.
39	39	(6) A judge, based on the report received under
40	40	Subdivision (5), may credit against any time a defendant is
41	41	required to serve in a state jail felony facility additional time
42	42	for each day the defendant actually served in the facility while
43	43	diligently participating in an educational, vocational, treatment,
44	44	or work program. A time credit under this subdivision may not
45	45	exceed one-fifth of the amount of time the defendant is originally
46	46	required to serve in the facility. A defendant may not be awarded a
47	47	credit under this subdivision for any period during which the
48	48	defendant is subject to disciplinary action. A time credit under
49	49	this subdivision is a privilege and not a right.
50	50	SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
51	51	to a person confined in a state jail felony facility for an offense
52	52	committed on or after the effective date of this Act. A person
53	53	confined in a state jail felony facility for an offense committed
54	54	before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
55	55	effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
56	56	continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,
57	57	an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if
58	58	any element of the offense occurred before that date.
59	59	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
60	60	* * * * *