Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2338 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R8719 MCF-F
2	2	By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 2338
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the award of work-for-time credits to certain persons
10	10	released on parole or to mandatory supervision.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 508.148(b), Government Code, is amended
13	13	to read as follows:
14	14	(b) To complete a [The time served on] mandatory supervision
15	15	period, a releasee must serve the entire period of mandatory
16	16	supervision, less any time credits the releasee has received under
17	17	Section 508.1559 [is computed as calendar time].
18	18	SECTION 2. Section 508.155(a), Government Code, is amended
19	19	to read as follows:
20	20	(a) To complete a parole period, a releasee must serve the
21	21	entire period of parole, less any time credits the releasee has
22	22	received under Section 508.1559.
23	23	SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 508, Government Code, is
24	24	amended by adding Section 508.1559 to read as follows:
25	25	Sec. 508.1559. WORK-FOR-TIME CREDIT. (a) In this section,
26	26	"business day" means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or state
27	27	or federal holiday.
28	28	(b) This section does not apply to a releasee who is serving
29	29	a sentence for an offense:
30	30	(1) listed in Article 42A.054(a), Code of Criminal
31	31	Procedure;
32	32	(2) described by Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal
33	33	Procedure; or
34	34	(3) under Section 20.03 or 28.02, Penal Code.
35	35	(c) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a releasee is
36	36	entitled to receive time credits toward the completion of the
37	37	releasee's period of parole or mandatory supervision in an amount
38	38	equal to 30 days for every 140 hours the releasee works for pay,
39	39	regardless of whether there is a break in employment, as verified
40	40	under Subsection (h).
41	41	(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a releasee is
42	42	entitled to receive time credits toward the completion of the
43	43	releasee's period of parole or mandatory supervision in an amount
44	44	equal to 10 days for each 30-day period in which the releasee is
45	45	continuously enrolled and participating, as verified under
46	46	Subsection (h), in a rehabilitation, faith-based, vocational, or
47	47	academic education program, including a high school or high school
48	48	equivalency certificate program, an academic degree program at an
49	49	institution of higher education, or a vocational, technical, or
50	50	career education or training program.
51	51	(e) A releasee may not receive time credits under this
52	52	section:
53	53	(1) for any hours worked or enrollment and
54	54	participation in a program described by Subsection (d) that occurs:
55	55	(A) while the releasee is in violation of a
56	56	condition of parole or mandatory supervision, other than a
57	57	condition to make a payment on a required cost, fine, or fee; or
58	58	(B) during the 90-day period following a
59	59	violation described by Paragraph (A); or
60	60	(2) during the 60-day period preceding the expiration
61	61	of the releasee's period of parole or mandatory supervision, taking
62	62	into account any time credits to which the releasee is entitled
63	63	under this section.
64	64	(f) A releasee shall, for any employment described by
65	65	Subsection (c), submit to the releasee's parole officer
66	66	documentation verifying the releasee's employment. The
67	67	documentation may include any one of the following:
68	68	(1) an employment record;
69	69	(2) a letter from an employer;
70	70	(3) a contract;
71	71	(4) pay stubs or copies of checks received as payment
72	72	for time worked;
73	73	(5) a statement from a vendor the employer contracts
74	74	with for employment verification purposes; or
75	75	(6) a statement from a bank or credit union
76	76	demonstrating a pattern of deposits.
77	77	(g) A releasee shall, for each 30-day period described by
78	78	Subsection (d), submit to the releasee's parole officer
79	79	documentation verifying the releasee's continued enrollment and
80	80	participation in a rehabilitation, faith-based, vocational, or
81	81	academic education program. The documentation may include a
82	82	letter, statement, or other form of documentation from the
83	83	organization or entity administering the program.
84	84	(h) A parole officer to whom documentation is submitted
85	85	under Subsection (f) or (g) shall:
86	86	(1) verify that the releasee:
87	87	(A) worked 140 hours of paid employment or was
88	88	continuously enrolled and participating in a program described by
89	89	Subsection (d), as applicable; and
90	90	(B) is otherwise entitled to time credits under
91	91	this section; and
92	92	(2) subject to Subsection (i), enter the documentation
93	93	and record the time credits received in the system developed under
94	94	Subsection (j) not later than the fifth business day after
95	95	receiving the documentation.
96	96	(i) If a parole officer is not able to verify the releasee's
97	97	employment or enrollment and participation in a program, as
98	98	applicable, according to the received documentation, or determines
99	99	that the releasee is ineligible for time credits for the applicable
100	100	period under Subsection (e), the officer shall:
101	101	(1) deny the time credits; and
102	102	(2) record the denial in the system developed under
103	103	Subsection (j).
104	104	(j) The division shall:
105	105	(1) establish a system to record and track time
106	106	credits received or denied under this section; and
107	107	(2) require each parole officer to use the system.
108	108	(k) If a releasee's parole or mandatory supervision is
109	109	revoked, all of the time credits to which the releasee is entitled
110	110	under this section are forfeited and may not be credited toward the
111	111	remaining portion of the releasee's sentence.
112	112	(l) A releasee may not waive the releasee's entitlement to
113	113	earn time credits under this section.
114	114	SECTION 4. Section 508.155(b), Government Code, is
115	115	repealed.
116	116	SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2026, the pardons and
117	117	paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
118	118	establish the system to record and track time credits required
119	119	under Section 508.1559, Government Code, as added by this Act.
120	120	SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
121	121	to a person who is released on parole or to mandatory supervision
122	122	for an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
123	123	A person who is released on parole or to mandatory supervision for
124	124	an offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
125	125	governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
126	126	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
127	127	purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
128	128	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
129	129	before that date.
130	130	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.