84R2319 JRR-D
By: Peña H.B. No. 1529
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedures for certain persons charged with a violation
of a condition of release from the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice on parole or to mandatory supervision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 508.251(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Instead of the issuance of a warrant under this section,
the division:
(1) may issue to the person a summons requiring the
person to appear for a hearing under Section 508.281 if the person
is not a releasee who is:
(A) on intensive supervision or superintensive
supervision;
(B) an absconder; or
(C) determined by the division to be a threat to
public safety; and
(2) shall issue to the person a summons requiring the
person to appear for a hearing under Section 508.281 if the person:
(A) is charged only with committing:
(i) an administrative violation of release
that is alleged to have been committed after the first [third]
anniversary of the date the person was released on parole or to
mandatory supervision; or
(ii) a new offense that is alleged to have
been committed after the first anniversary of the date the person
was released on parole or to mandatory supervision if:
(a) the new offense is a Class B or
Class C misdemeanor, other than an offense committed against a
child younger than 17 years of age or an offense involving family
violence, as defined by Section 71.004, Family Code;
(b) the person has maintained steady
employment for at least one year;
(c) the person has maintained a stable
residence for at least one year; and
(d) the person has not previously been
charged with an offense after the person was released on parole or
to mandatory supervision;
(B) is not serving a sentence for, and has not
been previously convicted of, an offense listed in or described by
Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(C) is not a releasee with respect to whom a
summons may not be issued under Subdivision (1).
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a person who on or after the effective date of this Act is charged
with a violation of the terms of the person's release on parole or
to mandatory supervision. A person who before the effective date of
this Act was charged with a violation of the terms of the person's
release is governed by the law in effect when the violation was
charged, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.