HBA-RBT H.B. 77 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 77
By: Gallego
Criminal Jurisprudence
2/3/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, an inmate serving a sentence of life in prison for a capital
murder is eligible for parole after serving 40 years.  In addition, when a
jury is considering whether or not to sentence a defendant to life in
prison the jury is not informed of the defendant's eligibility for parole.
H.B. 77 makes an inmate serving a life sentence ineligible for parole.  The
bill requires the court to instruct the jury that if the defendant is
sentenced to life in prison the defendant will not be eligible for parole. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate  any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 508.046, Government Code, to remove an inmate
convicted of a capital murder from consideration for early parole under
this section. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 508.145(b), Government Code, to provide that an
inmate serving a life sentence for a capital murder is not eligible for
release on parole.  Deletes language referring to parole eligibility after
40 years for an inmate serving a life sentence for a capital murder. 

SECTION 3.  Amends Section 2, Article 37.031, Code of Criminal Procedure,
to require the court to instruct the jury that a finding under this
subsection requires the court to sentence the defendant to life in prison
and that the defendant will not be eligible for parole or mandatory
supervision. Redesignates a subsection.   

SECTION 4.  Makes application of this Act prospective.  Provides that an
offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any element
of the offense occurs before the effective date. 

SECTION 5.  Effective date:  September 1, 1999.

SECTION 6.  Emergency clause.