H.B. No. 1546
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. Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 42.0199 to read as follows:
Art. 42.0199. FINDING REGARDING DILIGENT PARTICIPATION
CREDIT. If a person is convicted of a state jail felony, the judge
shall make a finding and enter the finding in the judgment of the
case regarding whether the person is presumptively entitled to
diligent participation credit in accordance with Section 15(h),
Article 42.12.
SECTION 2. Section 15(h), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by amending Subdivisions (1), (5), and (6)
and adding Subdivisions (7) and (8) 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) or (7).
(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 record [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) For a defendant with a judgment that contains a
finding under Article 42.0199 that the defendant is presumptively
entitled to diligent participation credit and who has not been the
subject of disciplinary action while confined in the state jail
felony facility, the department shall [A judge, based on the report
received under Subdivision (5), may] credit against any time the
[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.
(7) For a defendant with a judgment that contains a
finding under Article 42.0199 that the defendant is not
presumptively entitled to diligent participation credit or who has
been the subject of disciplinary action while confined in the state
jail felony facility, the department shall, not later than the 30th
day before the date on which the defendant will have served 80
percent of the defendant's sentence, report to the sentencing court
the record of the number of days under Subdivision (5). The contents
of a report submitted under this subdivision are not subject to
challenge by a defendant. A judge, based on the report, 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.
(8) A time credit under Subdivision (6) or (7) [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 Subdivision (6) or (7)
[this subdivision] for any period during which the defendant is
subject to disciplinary status [action]. A time credit under
Subdivision (6) or (7) [this subdivision] is a privilege and not a
right.
SECTION 3. 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1546 was passed by the House on April
15, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1546 on May 18, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 126, Nays 5,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1546 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 15, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
1.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor