89R23126 BCH-D
By: Harless, Hull H.B. No. 4937
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4937:
By: Wharton C.S.H.B. No. 4937
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the frequency with which the Board of Pardons and
Paroles reconsiders inmates for release on parole.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 508.141(g) and (g-1), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(g) The board shall adopt a policy establishing the date on
which the board may reconsider for release an inmate who has
previously been denied release. The policy must require the board
to reconsider the inmate for release[:
[(1) an inmate serving a sentence for an offense
listed in Section 508.149(a) or for an offense punishable as a
felony of the second or third degree under Section 22.04, Penal
Code,] during a month designated under Subsection (g-1) by the
parole panel that denied release[; and
[(2) an inmate other than an inmate described by
Subdivision (1) as soon as practicable after the first anniversary
of the date of the denial].
(g-1) The month designated for reconsideration [under
Subsection (g)(1) by the parole panel that denied release] must:
(1) except as provided by Subdivision (2), begin after
the first anniversary of the date of the denial and end before the
fifth anniversary of the date of the denial; or
(2) if[, unless] the inmate is serving a sentence for
an offense under Section 22.021, Penal Code, or a life sentence for
a capital felony, [in which event the designated month must] begin
after the first anniversary of the date of the denial and end before
the 10th anniversary of the date of the denial.
SECTION 2. (a) Section 508.141, Government Code, as
amended by this Act, applies to any inmate who is confined in a
facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice on or after the effective date of this Act,
regardless of whether the offense for which the inmate is confined
occurred before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) The Board of Pardons and Paroles shall adopt a policy
consistent with Section 508.141, Government Code, as amended by
this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this
Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.