Bill Text: TX SB368 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to the release by a sheriff of certain defendants to an electronic monitoring or house arrest program.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-29 - Committee report printed and distributed [SB368 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB368-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Whitmire S.B. No. 368
(In the Senate - Filed February 4, 2013; February 11, 2013,
read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
April 29, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 1, 1 present not
voting; April 29, 2013, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 368 By: Whitmire

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the release by a sheriff of certain defendants to an
electronic monitoring or house arrest program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 42.0321 to read as follows:
Art. 42.0321. RELEASE BY SHERIFF TO HOUSE ARREST OR
ELECTRONIC MONITORING. (a) Notwithstanding Article 42.035, if a
sheriff determines that it is in the best interest of a defendant
and the public, the sheriff may require a defendant who is serving a
sentence of confinement in the county jail to serve all or part of
the sentence in an electronic monitoring program or under house
arrest, rather than being confined in the county jail. The sheriff
may require a defendant released to house arrest to also be
electronically monitored.
(b) A defendant who participates in an electronic
monitoring or house arrest program under this article:
(1) discharges a sentence of confinement in the same
manner as if the defendant were confined in a county jail; and
(2) is responsible for payment to a county for the
reasonable costs incurred by the county because of the defendant's
participation in the program.
(c) A sheriff may impose reasonable conditions on a
defendant who participates in an electronic monitoring or house
arrest program.
(d) A sheriff may revoke a defendant's participation in an
electronic monitoring or house arrest program and require the
defendant to serve the remainder of the defendant's sentence of
confinement in the county jail if:
(1) the sheriff is unable to monitor the defendant due
to a failure in the electronic monitoring device;
(2) the defendant violates a condition imposed by the
sheriff; or
(3) the defendant fails to pay for participating in
the program as required by Subsection (b)(2).
SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 351.0415, Local
Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) The sheriff or the sheriff's designee may use commissary
proceeds only to:
(1) fund, staff, and equip a program addressing the
social needs of the inmates, including an educational or
recreational program, [and] religious or rehabilitative
counseling, or an electronic monitoring or house arrest program
operated under Article 42.0321, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(2) supply inmates with clothing, writing materials,
and hygiene supplies;
(3) establish, staff, and equip the commissary
operation and fund the salaries of staff responsible for managing
the inmates' commissary accounts;
(4) fund, staff, and equip both an educational and a
law library for the educational use of inmates; or
(5) fund physical plant improvements, technology,
equipment, programs, services, and activities that provide for the
well-being, health, safety, and security of the inmates and the
facility.
SECTION 3. Subsections (a) and (d), Section 351.904, Local
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A commissioners court of a county may establish and
operate an electronic monitoring program for the purpose of
monitoring defendants required [by a court of the county] to
participate in an electronic monitoring program under:
(1) Article 43.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, to
discharge a fine or costs; or
(2) Article 42.0321 or 42.035, Code of Criminal
Procedure, as an alternative to serving all or part of a sentence of
confinement in county jail.
(d) A commissioners court may use money that a defendant is
ordered to pay to a county under Article 42.0321(b)(2) or
42.035(c), Code of Criminal Procedure, to pay for the services of a
private vendor that operates an electronic monitoring program under
Subsection (c).
SECTION 4. 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, 2013.
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