By: Turner of Harris, et al. H.B. No. 710
(Senate Sponsor - RodrÃguez)
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2015;
May 18, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 21, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 21, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
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:
(A) is not a releasee who is:
(i) [(A)] on intensive supervision or
superintensive supervision;
(ii) [(B)] an absconder; or
(iii) [(C)] determined by the division to
be a threat to public safety; or
(B) is charged only with committing 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:
(i) the new offense is a Class C misdemeanor
under the Penal Code, 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;
(ii) the person has maintained steady
employment for at least one year;
(iii) the person has maintained a stable
residence for at least one year; and
(iv) the person has not previously been
charged with an offense after the person was released on parole or
to mandatory supervision; 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 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;
(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. Section 508.281(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) If a hearing before a designated agent of the board is
held under this section for a releasee who appears in compliance
with a summons, the sheriff of the county in which the releasee is
required to appear shall provide the designated agent with a place
at the county jail to hold the hearing. After the board or a parole
panel makes a final determination [Immediately on conclusion of a
hearing in which the designated agent determines] that a releasee
has violated a condition of release, a warrant may be issued
requiring the releasee to be held in the county jail pending:
(1) transfer to an intermediate sanction facility [the
action of a parole panel on any recommendations made by the
designated agent]; or [and]
(2) [if subsequently ordered by the parole panel,] the
return of the releasee to the institution from which the releasee
was released.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act in amending
Section 508.251(c), Government Code, 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 4. The change in law made by this Act in amending
Section 508.281(c), Government Code, applies only to a hearing held
on or after the effective date of this Act. A hearing held before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the hearing was held, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
* * * * *