HBA-TBM H.B. 1584 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1584
By: Gallego
Corrections
3/4/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

One primary role of the Board of Pardons and Paroles (board) is to
administer the discretionary release of eligible inmates sentenced to the
institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Although the board's duties include the determination of the conditions of
release to mandatory supervision, it is unclear whether the board has the
duty to determine which prisoners are to be released into mandatory
supervision.  Current statutes do not specifically include the
determination of which inmates are to be released on mandatory supervision.
House Bill 1584 requires the board to determine which inmates are to be
released on mandatory supervision.   

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 1584 amends the Government Code to require the Board of Pardons
and Paroles (board) to determine which inmates are to be released on
mandatory supervision, and to require the parole panels formed by the
board's members to allow an inmate's victim or a relative or representative
of the victim to provide a statement to the panel or appear in person
before the board members, to offer testimony about the inmate, the inmate's
offense, and the effect of the offense on the victim if the inmate is being
considered for release on mandatory supervision.   

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.