HBA-JEK H.B. 1616 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1616
By: Allen
Corrections
3/9/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law does not prohibit Texas inmates from receiving state benefits
while incarcerated, even though the state provides for the immediate needs
of imprisoned individuals under the criminal justice system. House Bill
1616 prohibits an incarcerated person from receiving any loan, grant,
pension, salary, or other payment from the state. 

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 1616 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to prohibit a person
convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment in the institutional
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) from receiving
any loan, grant, pension, salary, or other payment from the state until the
date on which the person is released after completing the term of
imprisonment.  This provision does not apply to an inmate in a prison
industries program, an inmate who receives a pension that vested before the
date the person is finally convicted, or an inmate who receives a payment
in satisfaction of wages earned or a contract performed before the date the
person is finally convicted.   
The bill requires a court that sentences a person to imprisonment in the
institutional division of TDCJ to inform the person at the time of sentence
of the consequence of the sentence as it relates to the person's
eligibility to receive state benefits. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.