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.