H.B. No. 385
AN ACT
relating to conditions of community supervision and procedures
applicable to the reduction or termination of a defendant's period
of community supervision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 42A.052(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A judge who places a defendant on community supervision
may authorize the supervision officer supervising the defendant or
a magistrate appointed by the district courts in the county that
give preference to criminal cases to modify the conditions of
community supervision for the limited purposes [purpose] of:
(1) transferring the defendant to different programs
within the community supervision continuum of programs and
sanctions; or
(2) prioritizing the conditions ordered by the court
according to the defendant's progress under supervision.
SECTION 2. Article 42A.301(b), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) Conditions of community supervision may include
conditions requiring the defendant to:
(1) commit no offense against the laws of this state or
of any other state or of the United States;
(2) avoid injurious or vicious habits;
(3) [avoid persons or places of disreputable or
harmful character, including any person, other than a family member
of the defendant, who is an active member of a criminal street gang;
[(4)] report to the supervision officer as directed by
the judge or supervision officer and obey all rules and regulations
of the community supervision and corrections department;
(4) [(5)] permit the supervision officer to visit the
defendant at the defendant's home or elsewhere;
(5) [(6)] work faithfully at suitable employment to
the extent possible;
(6) [(7)] remain within a specified place;
(7) [(8)] pay in one or more amounts:
(A) the defendant's fine, if one is assessed; and
(B) all court costs, regardless of whether a fine
is assessed;
(8) [(9)] support the defendant's dependents;
(9) [(10)] participate, for a period specified by the
judge, in any community-based program, including a community
service project under Article 42A.304;
(10) [(11)] if the judge determines that the defendant
has financial resources that enable the defendant to offset in part
or in whole the costs of the legal services provided to the
defendant in accordance with Article 1.051(c) or (d), including any
expenses and costs, reimburse the county in which the prosecution
was instituted for the costs of the legal services in an amount that
the judge finds the defendant is able to pay, except that the
defendant may not be ordered to pay an amount that exceeds:
(A) the actual costs, including any expenses and
costs, paid by the county for the legal services provided by an
appointed attorney; or
(B) if the defendant was represented by a public
defender's office, the actual amount, including any expenses and
costs, that would have otherwise been paid to an appointed attorney
had the county not had a public defender's office;
(11) [(12)] if under custodial supervision in a
community corrections facility:
(A) remain under that supervision;
(B) obey all rules and regulations of the
facility; and
(C) pay a percentage of the defendant's income to
the facility for room and board;
(12) [(13)] submit to testing for alcohol or
controlled substances;
(13) [(14)] attend counseling sessions for substance
abusers or participate in substance abuse treatment services in a
program or facility approved or licensed by the Department of State
Health Services;
(14) [(15)] with the consent of the victim of a
misdemeanor offense or of any offense under Title 7, Penal Code,
participate in victim-defendant mediation;
(15) [(16)] submit to electronic monitoring;
(16) [(17)] reimburse the compensation to victims of
crime fund for any amounts paid from that fund to or on behalf of a
victim, as defined by Article 56B.003, of the offense or if no
reimbursement is required, make one payment to the compensation to
victims of crime fund in an amount not to exceed $50 if the offense
is a misdemeanor or not to exceed $100 if the offense is a felony;
(17) [(18)] reimburse a law enforcement agency for the
analysis, storage, or disposal of raw materials, controlled
substances, chemical precursors, drug paraphernalia, or other
materials seized in connection with the offense;
(18) [(19)] reimburse all or part of the reasonable
and necessary costs incurred by the victim for psychological
counseling made necessary by the offense or for counseling and
education relating to acquired immune deficiency syndrome or human
immunodeficiency virus made necessary by the offense;
(19) [(20)] pay a fine in an amount not to exceed $50
to a crime stoppers organization, as defined by Section 414.001,
Government Code, and as certified by the Texas Crime Stoppers
Council;
(20) [(21)] submit a DNA sample to the Department of
Public Safety under Subchapter G, Chapter 411, Government Code, for
the purpose of creating a DNA record of the defendant; and
(21) [(22)] in any manner required by the judge,
provide in the county in which the offense was committed public
notice of the offense for which the defendant was placed on
community supervision.
SECTION 3. Article 42A.303(e), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(e) The Department of State Health Services or the community
supervision and corrections department supervising the defendant
shall develop the continuum of care treatment plan described by
Subsection (d)(1).
SECTION 4. Articles 42A.403(d-1) and (e), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(d-1) The judge shall waive the educational program
requirement if the defendant successfully completes [equivalent]
education at a residential treatment facility under Article
42A.4045.
(e) The judge shall set out in the judgment, as applicable:
(1) the finding of good cause for waiver; or
(2) the finding that the defendant has successfully
completed [equivalent] education as provided by Article 42A.4045.
SECTION 5. Articles 42A.404(b-1) and (c), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(b-1) The judge shall waive the educational program
requirement if the defendant successfully completes [equivalent]
education at a residential treatment facility under Article
42A.4045.
(c) The judge shall set out in the judgment, as applicable:
(1) the finding of good cause for waiver; or
(2) the finding that the defendant has successfully
completed [equivalent] education as provided by Article 42A.4045.
SECTION 6. Articles 42A.4045(a) and (b), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A judge shall waive the educational requirement under
Article 42A.403 or 42A.404 for a defendant who is required to
receive treatment as a resident of a substance abuse treatment
facility as a condition of community supervision if the defendant
successfully completes [equivalent] education while the defendant
is confined to the residential treatment facility.
(b) The Department of State Health Services shall approve
[equivalent] education provided at substance abuse treatment
facilities.
SECTION 7. Articles 42A.406(a) and (b-1), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) If a defendant is required as a condition of community
supervision to attend an educational program under Article 42A.403
or 42A.404, or if the court waives the educational program
requirement under Article 42A.403 or the defendant successfully
completes [equivalent] education under Article 42A.4045, the court
clerk shall immediately report that fact to the Department of
Public Safety, on a form prescribed by the department, for
inclusion in the defendant's driving record. If the court grants an
extension of time in which the defendant may complete the
educational program under Article 42A.403, the court clerk shall
immediately report that fact to the Department of Public Safety on a
form prescribed by the department. The clerk's report under this
subsection must include the beginning date of the defendant's
community supervision.
(b-1) Upon release from a residential treatment facility at
which the person successfully completed [equivalent] education
under Article 42A.4045, at the request of the court clerk, the
director of the residential treatment facility shall give notice to
the Department of Public Safety for inclusion in the person's
driving record.
SECTION 8. Article 42A.655, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 42A.655. ABILITY TO PAY. (a) The court shall consider
the defendant's ability to pay before ordering the defendant to
make any payments under this chapter.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law and subject to Subsection
(c), the court shall consider whether the defendant has sufficient
resources or income to make any payments under this chapter,
excluding restitution but including any fee, fine, reimbursement
cost, court cost, rehabilitation cost, program cost, service cost,
counseling cost, ignition interlock cost, assessment cost, testing
cost, education cost, treatment cost, payment required under
Article 42A.652, or any other payment or cost authorized or
required under this chapter. The court shall consider under this
subsection whether a defendant has sufficient resources or income:
(1) before or immediately after placing the defendant
on community supervision, including deferred adjudication
community supervision; and
(2) during the period of community supervision, before
or immediately after the court orders or requires the defendant to
make any payments under this chapter.
(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to consideration of a
defendant's ability to pay restitution.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, if a defendant is ordered
to make a payment included under Subsection (b), the court shall
reconsider whether the defendant has sufficient resources or income
to make the payment at any hearing held under Article 42A.751(d).
(e) A defendant who is ordered to make a payment included
under Subsection (b) may, at any time during the defendant's period
of community supervision, including deferred adjudication
community supervision, but not more than once in any six-month
period unless the defendant shows a substantial and compelling
reason for making an additional request during that period, file a
written statement with the clerk of the court requesting
reconsideration of the defendant's ability to make the payment and
requesting that the payment be satisfied by an alternative method
provided under Subsection (f). On receipt of the statement, the
court shall consider whether the defendant's financial status or
required payments have changed in such a way that the defendant's
ability to make a payment previously ordered by the court is
substantially hindered. If after conducting a review under this
subsection the court finds that the defendant's ability to make a
payment previously ordered by the court is substantially hindered,
the court shall determine whether all or a portion of the payment
should be satisfied by an alternative method provided under
Subsection (f). The court shall notify the defendant and the
attorney representing the state of the court's decision regarding
whether to allow all or a portion of the payment to be satisfied by
an alternative method.
(f) Notwithstanding any other law, if the court determines
under this article at any time during a defendant's period of
community supervision, including deferred adjudication community
supervision, that the defendant does not have sufficient resources
or income to make a payment included under Subsection (b), the court
shall determine whether all or a portion of the payment should be:
(1) required to be paid at a later date or in a
specified portion at designated intervals;
(2) waived completely or partially under Article
43.091 or 45.0491;
(3) discharged by performing community service under
Article 42A.304 or 45.049, as applicable; or
(4) satisfied through any combination of methods under
Subdivisions (1)-(3).
(g) In making a determination under Subsection (f), a court
may waive completely or partially a payment required under Article
42A.652 only if, after waiving all other applicable payments
included under Subsection (b), the court determines that the
defendant does not have sufficient resources or income to make the
payment.
(h) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
System shall adopt a standardized form that a defendant may use to
make a request under Subsection (e) for the reconsideration of the
defendant's ability to pay. The form must include:
(1) detailed and clear instructions for how to fill
out the form and submit a request to the court; and
(2) the following statement at the top of the form, in
bold type and in any language in which the form is produced:
"If at any time while you are on community supervision your ability
to pay any fine, fee, program cost, or other payment ordered by the
court, other than restitution, changes and you cannot afford to
pay, you have the right to request that the court review your
payments and consider changing or waiving your payments. You can
use this form to make a request for a change in your payments. You
cannot use this form to request a change in restitution payments."
(i) A supervision officer or the court shall promptly
provide a defendant a copy of the form adopted under Subsection (h)
on the defendant's request for the form.
(j) This subsection applies only to a defendant whose
payments are wholly or partly waived under this article. At any
time during the defendant's period of community supervision,
including deferred adjudication community supervision, the court,
on the court's own motion or by motion of the attorney representing
the state, may reconsider the waiver of the payment. After
providing written notice to the defendant and an opportunity for
the defendant to present information relevant to the defendant's
ability to pay, the court may order the defendant to pay all or part
of the waived amount of the payment only if the court determines
that the defendant has sufficient resources or income to pay the
amount.
SECTION 9. Article 42A.701, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1),
(b-2), and (d-1) to read as follows:
(b) On completion of one-half of the original community
supervision period or two years of community supervision, whichever
is more, the judge shall review the defendant's record and consider
whether to reduce or terminate the period of community supervision,
unless the defendant:
(1) is delinquent in paying required [costs, fines,
fees, or] restitution that the defendant has the ability to pay; or
(2) has not completed court-ordered counseling or
treatment.
(b-1) The supervision officer shall notify the judge as soon
as practicable after the date a defendant, who at the time of the
review required by Subsection (b) was delinquent in paying
restitution or had not completed court-ordered counseling or
treatment, completes the remaining court-ordered counseling or
treatment and makes the delinquent restitution payments, as
applicable, and is otherwise compliant with the conditions of
community supervision. On receipt of the notice the judge shall
review the defendant's record and consider whether to reduce or
terminate the period of community supervision.
(b-2) Following a review conducted under Subsection (b) or
(b-1), the judge may reduce or terminate the period of community
supervision or decide not to reduce or terminate the period of
community supervision. In making the determination, the judge may
consider any factors the judge considers relevant, including
whether the defendant is delinquent in paying court-ordered costs,
fines, or fees that the defendant has the ability to pay as provided
by Article 42A.655.
(d-1) If the judge does not terminate the defendant's period
of community supervision after conducting a review under this
article:
(1) the judge shall promptly advise the defendant's
supervision officer of the reasons the judge did not terminate the
defendant's period of community supervision; and
(2) the supervision officer shall promptly advise the
defendant in writing of the reasons provided under Subdivision (1).
SECTION 10. Articles 42A.702(a) and (d), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) This article applies only to a defendant who:
(1) is granted community supervision, including
deferred adjudication community supervision, for an offense
punishable as a state jail felony or a felony of the third degree,
other than an offense:
(A) included as a "reportable conviction or
adjudication" under Article 62.001(5);
(B) involving family violence as defined by
Section 71.004, Family Code;
(C) under Section 20.03 or 28.02, Penal Code; or
(D) under Chapter 49, Penal Code; and
(2) [is not delinquent in paying required costs,
fines, or fees; and
[(3)] has fully satisfied any order to pay restitution
to a victim.
(d) A defendant is entitled to time credits toward the
completion of the defendant's period of community supervision for
the successful completion of treatment or rehabilitation programs
as follows:
(1) parenting class or parental responsibility
program: 30 days;
(2) anger management program: 30 days;
(3) life skills training program: 30 days;
(4) vocational, technical, or career education or
training program: 60 days; [and]
(5) alcohol or substance abuse counseling or
treatment: 90 days; and
(6) any other faith-based, volunteer, or
community-based program ordered or approved by the court: 30 days.
SECTION 11. Not later than January 1, 2022, the Office of
Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall adopt the
form required by Article 42A.655(h), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
added by this Act.
SECTION 12. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, the change in law made by this Act to Chapter 42A,
Code of Criminal Procedure, applies to a person on community
supervision on or after the effective date of this Act, regardless
of whether the person was placed on community supervision before,
on, or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) Article 42A.702(d)(6), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
added by this Act, applies only to a person placed on community
supervision on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 385 was passed by the House on April
30, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 131, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 385 on May 28, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 111, Nays 31,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 385 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays
2.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor