By: Giddings, Hernandez (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 1507
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 8, 2017;
May 11, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 19, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 19, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the rights of certain defendants who successfully
complete a term of community supervision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 26.13(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Prior to accepting a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo
contendere, the court shall admonish the defendant of:
(1) the range of the punishment attached to the
offense;
(2) the fact that the recommendation of the
prosecuting attorney as to punishment is not binding on the court.
Provided that the court shall inquire as to the existence of a plea
bargain agreement between the state and the defendant and, if an
agreement exists, the court shall inform the defendant whether it
will follow or reject the agreement in open court and before any
finding on the plea. Should the court reject the agreement, the
defendant shall be permitted to withdraw the defendant's plea of
guilty or nolo contendere;
(3) the fact that if the punishment assessed does not
exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to
by the defendant and the defendant's attorney, the trial court must
give its permission to the defendant before the defendant may
prosecute an appeal on any matter in the case except for those
matters raised by written motions filed prior to trial;
(4) the fact that if the defendant is not a citizen of
the United States of America, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere
for the offense charged may result in deportation, the exclusion
from admission to this country, or the denial of naturalization
under federal law; [and]
(5) the fact that the defendant will be required to
meet the registration requirements of Chapter 62, if the defendant
is convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for an offense
for which a person is subject to registration under that chapter;
and
(6) the fact that if the defendant is placed on
community supervision, after satisfactorily fulfilling the
conditions of community supervision and on expiration of the period
of community supervision, the court is authorized to release the
defendant from the penalties and disabilities resulting from the
offense as provided by Article 42A.701(f).
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 42A, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 42A.058 to read as follows:
Art. 42A.058. INFORMATION PROVIDED TO DEFENDANT PLACED ON
COMMUNITY SUPERVISION. A judge placing a defendant on community
supervision shall inform the defendant in writing and on a form
prescribed by the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
Judicial System that, after satisfactorily fulfilling the
conditions of community supervision and on expiration of the period
of community supervision, the judge is authorized to release the
defendant from the penalties and disabilities resulting from the
offense as provided by Article 42A.701(f).
SECTION 3. Article 42A.701, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsections (f-1) and (f-2) to read as follows:
(f-1) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas
Judicial System shall adopt a standardized form for use in
discharging a defendant under this article. A judge discharging a
defendant under this article must use the form adopted under this
subsection. The form must provide for the judge to:
(1) discharge the defendant; or
(2) discharge the defendant, set aside the verdict or
permit the defendant to withdraw the defendant's plea, and dismiss
the accusation, complaint, information, or indictment against the
defendant.
(f-2) The form adopted under Subsection (f-1) must state
that a defendant who receives a discharge described by Subsection
(f-1)(2) is released from the penalties and disabilities resulting
from the offense as provided by Subsection (f).
SECTION 4. (a) Not later than December 1, 2017, the Office
of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall adopt
the forms required by Articles 42A.058 and 42A.701(f-1), Code of
Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act.
(b) Article 26.13(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a plea of guilty or a plea of
nolo contendere accepted by a court on or after January 1, 2018,
regardless of whether the offense for which the plea was submitted
was committed before, on, or after that date.
(c) Article 42A.058, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
this Act, applies only to a defendant placed on community
supervision on or after January 1, 2018, regardless of whether the
offense for which the defendant was placed on community supervision
was committed before, on, or after that date.
(d) Articles 42A.701(f-1) and (f-2), Code of Criminal
Procedure, as added by this Act, apply only to a discharge from
community supervision that occurs on or after January 1, 2018. A
discharge from community supervision that occurs before January 1,
2018, is governed by the law in effect on the date the discharge
occurs, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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