HBA-SEP H.B. 156 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 156 By: Homer Criminal Jurisprudence 7/18/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE There is concern that some adults recruit minors to sell drugs to school-age children. Increasing the penalty for adults who use children to commit or assist in the commission of an offense relating to the manufacture or delivery of certain controlled substances may mitigate this practice. House Bill 156 provides this increase. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 156 amends the Health and Safety Code to provide that a punishment may be increased by one degree if the defendant used or attempted to use a child younger than 18 years of age to commit or assist in the commission of an offense that is shown at the punishment phase of the trial to be an offense punishable as a state jail felony, felony of the third degree, or felony of the second degree relating to the manufacture or delivery of certain controlled substances. The bill provides that the punishment for the offense is a first degree felony if the defendant used or threatened to use force against the child or another to gain the child's assistance. The bill prohibits the court from ordering the sentence for the offense to run concurrently, notwithstanding certain cumulative or concurrent sentencing provision, with any other sentence the court imposes on the defendant if punishment for a defendant is increased. H.B. 156 also amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to provide that certain provisions regarding judge ordered community supervision do not apply to a punishment increased under a provision relating to the use of a child in the commission of an offense. In addition, H.B. 156 amends the Government Code to prohibit the release to mandatory supervision of an inmate if the inmate is serving a sentence for or has been previously convicted of a felony relating to the use of a child in the commission of an offense for which the punishment is increased. EFFECTIVE DATE June 14, 2001.