Bill Text: TX SB85 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the award of diligent participation credit to defendants confined in a state jail felony facility.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-15 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB85 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB85-Introduced.html

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88R1992 JRR-D
By: Johnson S.B. No. 85

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the award of diligent participation credit to
defendants confined in a state jail felony facility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Articles 42A.559(b), (f), and (h), Code of
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A defendant confined in a state jail felony facility
does not earn good conduct time for time served in the facility but
shall [may] be awarded diligent participation credit in accordance
with Subsection (f) [or (g)].
(f) The [For a defendant with a judgment that contains a
finding under Article 42.0199 that the defendant is presumptively
entitled to diligent participation credit and who has not been the
subject of disciplinary action while confined in the state jail
felony facility, the] department shall credit against any time the
defendant is required to serve in a state jail felony facility
additional time for each day the defendant actually served in the
facility while diligently participating in an educational,
vocational, treatment, or work program.
(h) A time credit under Subsection (f) [or (g)] may not
exceed one-fifth of the amount of time the defendant is originally
required to serve in the facility. A defendant may not be awarded a
time credit under Subsection (f) [or (g)] for any period during
which the defendant is subject to disciplinary status. A time
credit under Subsection (f) [or (g)] is a privilege and not a right.
SECTION 2. The following provisions of the Code of Criminal
Procedure are repealed:
(1) Article 42.0199; and
(2) Article 42A.559(g).
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a person confined in a state jail felony facility for an offense
committed on or after the effective date of this Act. A person
confined in a state jail felony facility 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.