88R2982 MCF-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 948
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the release on bail of certain persons charged with a
violation of a condition of the person's release from the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 508.254(d) and (e), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(d) A magistrate of the county in which the person is held in
custody:
(1) shall release the person on personal bond pending
the hearing if:
(A) the person is arrested or held in custody on a
charge that the person violated a condition of release by
committing a new offense; and
(B) the person has been released on bond for that
offense; and
(2) may release the person on bond pending the hearing
if:
(A) [(1)] the person is arrested or held in
custody only on a charge that the person committed an
administrative violation of release;
(B) [(2)] the division, in accordance with
Subsection (e), included notice on the warrant for the person's
arrest that the person is eligible for release on bond; and
(C) [(3)] the magistrate determines that the
person is not a threat to public safety.
(e) The division shall include a notice on the warrant for
the person's arrest indicating that the person is eligible for
release on bond under Subsection (d)(2) [(d)] if the division
determines that the person:
(1) has not been previously convicted of:
(A) an offense under Chapter 29, Penal Code;
(B) an offense under Title 5, Penal Code,
punishable as a felony; or
(C) an offense involving family violence, as
defined by Section 71.004, Family Code;
(2) is not on intensive supervision or super-intensive
supervision;
(3) is not an absconder; and
(4) is not a threat to public safety.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a person who is arrested on or after the effective date of this
Act. A person arrested before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the person was arrested,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.