HBA-TBM H.B. 1238 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1238
By: Wilson
Corrections
3/11/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Statistical research of Texas convicts suggests a correlation between
participation in rehabilitative programs and the reduction of recidivism
rates.  Rehabilitation, of which a key component is education, offers
inmates hope, makes prisons safer, lowers costs to taxpayers, and better
protects the public by reducing the number of inmates who recidivate.
House Bill 1238 requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to
provide treatment and education programs to each inmate confined in a
state-sponsored correction facility. H.B. 1238 also establishes a
certificate of rehabilitation that will be issued to an inmate upon the
completion of certain requirements, and entitles the inmate to the
expunction of all records and files of the arrest that resulted in the
inmates conviction.   

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 1238 amends the Government Code to require the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to provide treatment and education programs to
each inmate confined in a correctional facility operated by or under
contract with the department and to keep records of each inmate's
participation. The programs must be designed to rehabilitate the inmate and
reduce the likelihood that the inmate, when released from the correctional
facility, will commit a criminal offense.  On the 15th anniversary of the
date on which the inmate is released from imprisonment or supervision, the
department is required to issue to the inmate a certificate of
rehabilitation if the department's records indicate that the inmate
participated diligently in each program the department provided to the
inmate, and the inmate has not been convicted of an offense punishable by
confinement or imprisonment and committed after the inmate was released
from confinement, imprisonment, or supervision.  An inmate who receives a
certificate of rehabilitation is entitled to the expunction of all records
and files relating to the arrest that resulted in the conviction of the
inmate in the same manner as provided for a defendant who is convicted of
an offense and subsequently pardoned.  
EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.