Bill Text: TX HB618 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to certain notices and information about certain releasees from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that are provided to or made accessible to criminal justice agencies and to notification of an executive clemency recommendation by the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-27 - Considered in Calendars [HB618 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB618-Comm_Sub.html

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85R18918 JRR-D
By: Leach H.B. No. 618
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 618:
By: Sanford C.S.H.B. No. 618

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain notices and information about certain releasees
from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that are provided to
or made accessible to criminal justice agencies and to notification
of an executive clemency recommendation by the Board of Pardons and
Paroles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 508, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 508.0505 to read as follows:
Sec. 508.0505. NOTIFICATION OF EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY
RECOMMENDATION. (a) Not later than the 11th day after the date the
board recommends that the governor grant executive clemency, the
board shall notify the sheriff, each chief of police, the
prosecuting attorneys, and the district judges in the county in
which the individual was convicted that the governor is considering
clemency.
(b) If the prosecution of a case was originated in a county
other than the county in which the conviction occurred, the board
shall also notify the officers listed in Subsection (a) who serve
the originating county, subject to the same deadline imposed by
Subsection (a).
(c) The notice under Subsection (a) or (b) must include:
(1) the individual's name, age, sex, and race;
(2) a photograph of the individual, if available;
(3) the county in which the individual was convicted;
and
(4) the offense for which the individual was
convicted.
(d) The notice under Subsection (a) or (b) must be provided
by e-mail or other electronic communication.
SECTION 2. Sections 508.115(a) and (d), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than the 11th day before the date a parole
panel orders the release on parole of an inmate [or not later than
the 11th day after the date the board recommends that the governor
grant executive clemency], the division shall give notice in
accordance with Subsection (d) to [notify] the sheriffs, each chief
of police, the prosecuting attorneys, and the district judges in
the county in which the inmate was convicted and the county to which
the inmate is released that a parole panel is considering release on
parole [or the governor is considering clemency].
(d) The notice must include [state]:
(1) the inmate's name, age, sex, and race;
(2) a photograph of the inmate;
(3) if applicable:
(A) the address at which the inmate will reside;
(B) the name of the inmate's parole supervisor or
the director of the halfway house to which the inmate is
transferred, as appropriate; and
(C) the rules or conditions of the inmate's
release;
(4) [(2)] the county in which the inmate was
convicted; and
(5) [(3)] the offense for which the inmate was
convicted.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 508, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 508.120 to read as follows:
Sec. 508.120. RELEASEE DATABASE. (a) In this section,
"criminal justice agency" has the meaning assigned by Article
60.01, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(b) The division shall establish and maintain a database for
the purpose of providing real time information about releasees to
criminal justice agencies.
(c) The database:
(1) must contain the following information about a
releasee, to the extent that the information is available:
(A) a photograph;
(B) a physical description;
(C) gang affiliation;
(D) residential history;
(E) employment history; and
(F) the make, model, and license plate number of
any vehicle operated by the releasee; and
(2) must be updated as soon as practicable after a
parole officer learns of a change in any information described by
Subdivision (1).
(d) In establishing a database under this section, the
division may utilize an existing database that is maintained by the
department, including the corrections tracking system established
under Article 60.02, Code of Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 4. Subchapter H, Chapter 508, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 508.2511 to read as follows:
Sec. 508.2511. NOTICE OF WARRANT ISSUANCE. The department
shall provide notice of a warrant issued under this subchapter to
each law enforcement agency whose jurisdiction includes the
residence of the releasee, according to the department's records.
SECTION 5. (a) Section 508.0505, Government Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to a recommendation by the Board of
Pardons and Paroles that the governor grant executive clemency that
is made on or after January 1, 2018. A recommendation by the Board
of Pardons and Paroles that the governor grant executive clemency
that is made before January 1, 2018, is governed by Section 508.115,
Government Code, as that law existed immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
(b) Section 508.115, Government Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to the consideration by a parole panel of the
release of an inmate or the transfer of an inmate to a halfway house
that occurs on or after January 1, 2018. The consideration by a
parole panel of the release or transfer of an inmate that occurs
before January 1, 2018, is governed by the law in effect immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(c) Section 508.2511, Government Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a warrant issued under Subchapter H, Chapter 508,
Government Code, on or after January 1, 2018.
SECTION 6. Not later than January 1, 2018, the pardons and
paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
establish the database required by Section 508.120, Government
Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.