Talking Points CSSB 1266
(Committee Substitute to Senate
Bill 1266)
Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1266 is designed to
remove barriers from current laws that prevent the fulfillment of the original purpose of Chapter 42.12 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, as stated in the preamble to this chapter. It states that the legislative intent is to place
wholly within the state courts the responsibility for determining when the imposition of sentence in certain cases shall be
suspended, the condition of community supervision and the supervision of defendant placed on community supervision, and how
and when a probation will be terminated.
• This bill will remove most of the mandates on
our courts and will remove most of the shall not(s) found in current law.
• A judge should be able to use their discretion,
especially in probation matters, as they are also elected officials and the Judicial Branch is a separate branch of our state
government. Judges have been assigned the oversight, of not only individual probationers, but also of Community Supervision
and Correction Department.
• This bill also revisits the mandatory Community
Justice Plans, produced by Community Justice Councils working with each Community Supervision and Corrections Department and
the Judges within their jurisdiction. It assigns these Councils the responsibility for establishing for members of the
judiciary permissible conditions of community supervision and sanctions for defendant who fail to complete or violate conditions
of community supervision.
• This bill also proposes a reorganization of
probation termination options, while keeping the deferred adjudication sentence and establishing one termination order for
probation, that can have four distinct outcomes:
1. The judge can allow defendant to withdraw plea and
dismiss case.
2. The judge can terminate the probation, as in current law.
3. The judge can terminate the
probation and enter an affirmative finding that the case can be used to enhance the punishment on future offenses.
4. The
judge can revoke the probation.
With the proposals contained in CSSB 1266, combined with
the repeal of sections which dictate to the judge mandated actions and conditions of supervision, this bill gives
back to the judges the authority and duty to determine who should get probation, what the conditions of supervision should
be and when and how supervision should be ended.
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7 amendments were added to the bill on April 28.
These amendments are not incorporated yet into the version of the bill posted on this site, or into the above talking points.
Summary of 7 amendments that were added to CSSB1266
in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee before the bill was passed out of committee on April 28, 2005:
1. Qualification for jury probation is returned, defendant
must file sworn motion that he/she has no priors.
2. Early release for state jail felons is deleted.
We have no halfway house beds to accomplish this and it was only applicable to those revoked on probation, not straight sentences.
3. Clarifies that all statutory fees applicable to Deferred
Adjudication are still payable by the defendant, as if he /she received a regular probation.
4. The mandatory periods of confinement for DWI defendant
and evaluation is returned. Sanctions are applied to the individual's behavior along with the sanctions which are applied
to the person's Drivers License which have been moved to the Transportation Code as preferred by DPS and County Courts of
Laws.
5. Termination outcomes are clarified by creating a presumption
that a defendant who completes probation is entitled to a dismissal should resolve the concern expressed by Judge Creuzot
and others.
6. Cleanup, correct Transportation Code Numbers.
7. Clarification that the Office of Court Administration
and the Community Justice Assistance Division are to design a standardized form to be used in the Termination, discharging
and revocation of probation and deferred adjudication.
