89R8719 MCF-F
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 2338
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the award of work-for-time credits to certain persons
released on parole or to mandatory supervision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 508.148(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) To complete a [The time served on] mandatory supervision
period, a releasee must serve the entire period of mandatory
supervision, less any time credits the releasee has received under
Section 508.1559 [is computed as calendar time].
SECTION 2. Section 508.155(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) To complete a parole period, a releasee must serve the
entire period of parole, less any time credits the releasee has
received under Section 508.1559.
SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 508, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 508.1559 to read as follows:
Sec. 508.1559. WORK-FOR-TIME CREDIT. (a) In this section,
"business day" means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or state
or federal holiday.
(b) This section does not apply to a releasee who is serving
a sentence for an offense:
(1) listed in Article 42A.054(a), Code of Criminal
Procedure;
(2) described by Article 62.001(5), Code of Criminal
Procedure; or
(3) under Section 20.03 or 28.02, Penal Code.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a releasee is
entitled to receive time credits toward the completion of the
releasee's period of parole or mandatory supervision in an amount
equal to 30 days for every 140 hours the releasee works for pay,
regardless of whether there is a break in employment, as verified
under Subsection (h).
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a releasee is
entitled to receive time credits toward the completion of the
releasee's period of parole or mandatory supervision in an amount
equal to 10 days for each 30-day period in which the releasee is
continuously enrolled and participating, as verified under
Subsection (h), in a rehabilitation, faith-based, vocational, or
academic education program, including a high school or high school
equivalency certificate program, an academic degree program at an
institution of higher education, or a vocational, technical, or
career education or training program.
(e) A releasee may not receive time credits under this
section:
(1) for any hours worked or enrollment and
participation in a program described by Subsection (d) that occurs:
(A) while the releasee is in violation of a
condition of parole or mandatory supervision, other than a
condition to make a payment on a required cost, fine, or fee; or
(B) during the 90-day period following a
violation described by Paragraph (A); or
(2) during the 60-day period preceding the expiration
of the releasee's period of parole or mandatory supervision, taking
into account any time credits to which the releasee is entitled
under this section.
(f) A releasee shall, for any employment described by
Subsection (c), submit to the releasee's parole officer
documentation verifying the releasee's employment. The
documentation may include any one of the following:
(1) an employment record;
(2) a letter from an employer;
(3) a contract;
(4) pay stubs or copies of checks received as payment
for time worked;
(5) a statement from a vendor the employer contracts
with for employment verification purposes; or
(6) a statement from a bank or credit union
demonstrating a pattern of deposits.
(g) A releasee shall, for each 30-day period described by
Subsection (d), submit to the releasee's parole officer
documentation verifying the releasee's continued enrollment and
participation in a rehabilitation, faith-based, vocational, or
academic education program. The documentation may include a
letter, statement, or other form of documentation from the
organization or entity administering the program.
(h) A parole officer to whom documentation is submitted
under Subsection (f) or (g) shall:
(1) verify that the releasee:
(A) worked 140 hours of paid employment or was
continuously enrolled and participating in a program described by
Subsection (d), as applicable; and
(B) is otherwise entitled to time credits under
this section; and
(2) subject to Subsection (i), enter the documentation
and record the time credits received in the system developed under
Subsection (j) not later than the fifth business day after
receiving the documentation.
(i) If a parole officer is not able to verify the releasee's
employment or enrollment and participation in a program, as
applicable, according to the received documentation, or determines
that the releasee is ineligible for time credits for the applicable
period under Subsection (e), the officer shall:
(1) deny the time credits; and
(2) record the denial in the system developed under
Subsection (j).
(j) The division shall:
(1) establish a system to record and track time
credits received or denied under this section; and
(2) require each parole officer to use the system.
(k) If a releasee's parole or mandatory supervision is
revoked, all of the time credits to which the releasee is entitled
under this section are forfeited and may not be credited toward the
remaining portion of the releasee's sentence.
(l) A releasee may not waive the releasee's entitlement to
earn time credits under this section.
SECTION 4. Section 508.155(b), Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2026, the pardons and
paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
establish the system to record and track time credits required
under Section 508.1559, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a person who is released on parole or to mandatory supervision
for an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
A person who is released on parole or to mandatory supervision for
an offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.