Bill Text: TX HB48 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the creation of a commission to review convictions after exoneration and to prevent wrongful convictions.

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-4)

Status: (Passed) 2015-06-01 - Effective immediately [HB48 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB48-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 48

AN ACT
relating to the creation of a commission to review convictions
after exoneration and to prevent wrongful convictions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 43, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 43.27 to read as follows:
Art. 43.27. TIMOTHY COLE EXONERATION REVIEW COMMISSION
Sec. 1. CREATION. The Timothy Cole Exoneration Review
Commission is created.
Sec. 2. COMPOSITION. (a) The commission is composed of the
following 11 members:
(1) a member appointed by the governor;
(2) the chair of the Senate Committee on Criminal
Justice;
(3) the chair of the Senate Committee on State
Affairs;
(4) the chair of the House Committee on Criminal
Jurisprudence;
(5) the chair of the House Committee on Judiciary and
Civil Jurisprudence;
(6) a member appointed by the chair of the Texas
Judicial Council;
(7) the presiding officer of the Texas Commission on
Law Enforcement, or a member or employee of the Texas Commission on
Law Enforcement appointed by the presiding officer;
(8) the presiding officer of the Texas Indigent
Defense Commission, or a member or employee of the Texas Indigent
Defense Commission appointed by the presiding officer;
(9) the presiding officer of the Texas Forensic
Science Commission, or a member or employee of the Texas Forensic
Science Commission who has significant experience in the field of
forensic science appointed by the presiding officer;
(10) the president of the Texas Criminal Defense
Lawyers Association, or the president's designee; and
(11) the chairman of the board of the Texas District
and County Attorneys Association, or the chairman's designee.
(b) A person appointed under this section may not, while
serving on the commission, be an active judge, as that term is
defined by Section 74.041, Government Code.
(c) The following persons serve as advisory members to the
commission:
(1) the director of the Texas Center for Actual
Innocence at The University of Texas School of Law;
(2) the director of the Texas Innocence Network at the
University of Houston Law Center;
(3) the executive director of the Innocence Project of
Texas; and
(4) the executive director of the Innocence Project at
Thurgood Marshall School of Law.
Sec. 3. TERMS; VACANCIES. (a) A member of the commission
serves until the commission is dissolved.
(b) The presiding officer of the commission shall be elected
by the members of the commission.
(c) A vacancy on the commission is filled in the same manner
as the original appointment.
(d) The presiding officer may appoint committees from the
membership of the commission as needed to organize the commission
or to perform the duties of the commission.
Sec. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE ATTACHMENT. (a) The commission
exists under the Texas Judicial Council created under Chapter 71,
Government Code. The commission operates independently of the
Texas Judicial Council.
(b) The commission is administratively attached to the
Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, and subject to available
funding, the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
System shall:
(1) provide administrative assistance and services to
the commission;
(2) accept, deposit, and disburse money made available
to the commission; and
(3) provide the commission with adequate computer
equipment and support.
Sec. 5. MEETINGS. (a) The commission may hold its hearing
and meetings and other proceedings at a time and in a manner
determined by the commission, but shall meet in Austin at least
annually. The commission shall hold its first meeting on or before
October 31, 2015.
(b) The commission shall conduct one public hearing.
Advisory members may participate in the public hearing of the
commission but do not count toward a quorum and are not entitled to
vote on matters before the commission.
(c) Six members of the commission constitute a quorum. The
commission may act only on the concurrence of six or more members.
The commission may issue a report under Section 9 only on the
concurrence of seven members.
(d) Subject to the availability of funds, a member of the
commission is entitled only to reimbursement for the member's
travel expenses as provided by Chapter 660, Government Code, and
the General Appropriations Act.
Sec. 6. QUALIFICATIONS. (a) A member of the commission
may not participate in or vote on any matter before the commission
if the matter directly concerns an individual related to the member
within the second degree by affinity or consanguinity.
(b) An individual may not be a member of the commission if
the individual or individual's spouse is required to register as a
lobbyist under Chapter 305, Government Code, because of the
individual's activities for compensation on behalf of a profession
or entity related to the operation of the commission.
Sec. 7. GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL. (a) It is a ground for
removal from the commission that a member:
(1) if applicable, does not have at the time of
appointment the qualifications required by this article;
(2) does not maintain during service on the commission
the qualifications required by this article;
(3) violates a prohibition established by this
article;
(4) is ineligible for membership under this article;
(5) cannot, because of illness or disability,
discharge the member's duties for a substantial period; or
(6) is absent from more than half of the regularly
scheduled meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a
calendar year, unless the absence is excused by a majority vote of
the commission.
(b) The validity of an action of the commission is not
affected by the fact that it is taken when a ground for removal of a
commission member exists.
Sec. 8. DUTIES. (a) The commission may review and examine
all cases in this state in which an innocent defendant was convicted
and then, on or after January 1, 2010, was exonerated to, as
applicable:
(1) identify the causes of wrongful convictions and
suggest ways to prevent future wrongful convictions and improve the
reliability and fairness of the criminal justice system;
(2) ascertain errors and defects in the laws,
evidence, and procedures applied or omitted in the defendant's
case;
(3) consider suggestions to correct the identified
errors and defects through legislation or procedural changes;
(4) identify procedures, programs, and educational or
training opportunities designed to eliminate or minimize the
identified causes of wrongful convictions;
(5) collect and evaluate data and information from an
actual innocence exoneration reported to the commission by a
state-funded innocence project, for inclusion in the commission's
report under Section 9;
(6) identify any patterns in errors or defects in the
criminal justice system in this state that impact the pretrial,
trial, appellate, or habeas review process; or
(7) consider and suggest legislative, training, or
procedural changes to correct the patterns, errors, and defects in
the criminal justice system that are identified through the work of
the commission.
(b) The commission shall consider potential implementation
plans, costs, cost savings, and the impact on the criminal justice
system for each potential solution identified through the work of
the commission.
(c) The commission shall review and update the research,
reports, and recommendations of the Timothy Cole advisory panel
established in the 81st Regular Session and shall include in its
report under Section 9 the degree to which the panel's
recommendations were implemented.
(d) The commission may solicit input from innocence
projects, bar associations, judicial entities, law enforcement
agencies, prosecutor associations, public defender or criminal
defense associations, public and private universities, and
advocacy organizations.
Sec. 9. REPORT AND RECORDS. (a) The commission shall
compile and issue a detailed report of its findings and
recommendations, including any legislation or policy changes the
commission recommends to implement procedures and programs to
prevent the causes and occurrence of future wrongful convictions.
The report must also describe statutory, procedural, and
evidentiary reforms that have already been implemented in this
state to prevent the causes and occurrence of future wrongful
convictions.
(b) The report may not include any recommendation regarding
the use of the death penalty or related procedures.
(c) The official report issued by the commission must be
made available to the public on request.
(d) Working papers and records, including all documentary
or other information, collected, received, prepared, or maintained
by the commission or members of the commission in performing under
this article or other law the commission's duties to conduct an
evaluation and prepare a report, are confidential and not subject
to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
(e) The commission may request that an entity of state
government or of a political subdivision provide information
related to the commission's duties under Section 8. On the request
of the commission, an entity may provide information to the
commission unless otherwise prohibited from disclosing that
information.
(f) Information held by an entity of state government or of
a political subdivision that is confidential and that the
commission receives in connection with the performance of the
commission's functions under this article or other law remains
confidential and is not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code.
(g) In carrying out its duties, the commission may examine
the public records of an entity of state government or a political
subdivision that are provided under Subsection (e).
Sec. 10. ASSISTANCE OF STATE-SUPPORTED UNIVERSITIES. The
commission may request assistance from any state-supported
university in performing the commission's duties.
Sec. 11. SUBMISSION. The commission shall submit the
report described by Section 9 to the governor, the lieutenant
governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the
legislature, and the Texas Judicial Council not later than December
1, 2016.
Sec. 12. EXPIRATION. (a) This article expires December 1,
2016.
(b) The commission is dissolved on the earlier of:
(1) the date the commission submits its report; or
(2) December 1, 2016.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 48 was passed by the House on May 1,
2015, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 6, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 48 on May 28, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 137, Nays 5, 2
present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 48 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 26, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor