HBA-MSH H.B. 1649 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1649 By: Gallego Corrections 3/4/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, the primary duty of the Board of Pardons and Paroles (board) is the discretionary release of eligible inmates sentenced to the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The board is composed of 18 members appointed by the governor. Six of these members are chosen by the governor to serve as policy board members who adopt rules relating the decision-making process and administer the board's responsibilities. Questions have been raised about the size and efficiency of the board, including difficulties in coordinating activities, monitoring performance, establishing and tracking caseloads, and organizational structure. House Bill 1649 reduces the size of the board to six members, creates the position of parole commissioner to oversee various duties relating to paroles, and eliminates the Board of Pardons and Paroles Policy Board, distributing its duties to the board and the parole commissioners. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Board of Pardons and Paroles in SECTION 4 (Section 508.036, Government Code), SECTION 9 (Section 508.044, Government Code), SECTION 13 (Section 508.082, Government Code), and SECTION 21 (Section 492.0131, Government Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 1649 amends the Government Code to remove provisions relating to the Board of Pardons and Paroles Policy Board (policy board). The bill transfers the duties and responsibilities of the policy board to the Board of Pardons and Paroles (board) throughout the bill. The bill provides for the employment, supervision, duties, training, and responsibilities of 18 parole commissioners (commissioners) who determine the eligibility of specified inmates for parole and conditions for the release, parole, and supervision of such inmates (Secs. 508.001, 508.040, 508.041, 508.042 and 508.044). Commissioners, in three-person parole panels, are required to act to act in matters of release on parole, release to mandatory supervision, and revocation of parole and mandatory supervision (Sec. 508.045). The bill authorizes the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to provide confidential and privileged information to a parole commissioner (Sec. 508.313). The bill decreases from 18 to 6 the number of members of the board (Sec. 508.031). The bill requires the board to adopt rules relating to the decision-making processes used by the board and parole panels and establish caseloads for members of the board and commissioners (Sec. 508.036). The bill requires the board to adopt rules relating to the submission of information for and in behalf of an inmate and the time, place, and manner of contact between a person representing an inmate and a member or employee of the board or an employee of TDCJ (Sec. 508.082). The bill provides for the appointment of new members to the board by the governor (SECTION 24). The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to remove references to "probation" and to replace such references with the phrase "community supervision" (Sec. 42.037). EFFECTIVE DATE January 1, 2002.