By: Allen (Senate Sponsor - Ellis) H.B. No. 2649
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2011;
May 13, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 21, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 21, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the award of diligent participation credit to
defendants confined in a state jail felony facility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 15(h), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding
Subdivisions (4), (5), and (6) to read as follows:
(1) A defendant confined in a state jail felony
facility does not earn good conduct time for time served in the
facility but may be awarded diligent participation credit in
accordance with Subdivision (6).
(4) For purposes of Subdivisions (5) and (6),
"diligent participation" includes:
(A) successful completion of an educational,
vocational, or treatment program;
(B) progress toward successful completion of an
educational, vocational, or treatment program that was interrupted
by illness, injury, or another circumstance outside the control of
the defendant; and
(C) active involvement in a work program.
(5) For a defendant who has participated in an
educational, vocational, treatment, or work program while confined
in a state jail felony facility, not later than the 30th day before
the date on which the defendant will have served 80 percent of the
defendant's sentence, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
shall report to the sentencing court the number of days during which
the defendant diligently participated in any educational,
vocational, treatment, or work program. The contents of a report
submitted under this subdivision are not subject to challenge by a
defendant.
(6) A judge, based on the report received under
Subdivision (5), may credit against any time a defendant is
required to serve in a state jail felony facility additional time
for each day the defendant actually served in the facility while
diligently participating in an educational, vocational, treatment,
or work program. A time credit under this subdivision may not
exceed one-fifth of the amount of time the defendant is originally
required to serve in the facility. A defendant may not be awarded a
credit under this subdivision for any period during which the
defendant is subject to disciplinary action. A time credit under
this subdivision is a privilege and not a right.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a person confined in a state jail felony facility for an offense
committed on or after the effective date of this Act. A person
confined in a state jail felony facility for an offense committed
before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
effect when 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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