TITLE: Relating to the release of certain defendants detained in jail pending trial.

SUMMARY: Relating to the release of certain defendants detained in jail pending trial.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to the release of certain defendants detained in jail pending trial. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Article 17.1511 to read as follows: Art. 17.1511. RELEASE OF CERTAIN DEFENDANTS DETAINED LONGER THAN POTENTIAL PUNISHMENT. (a) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by Subsection (b), a defendant charged with an offense punishable as a Class Bmisdemeanor or any higher category of offense may not be detained in jail pending trial for a cumulative period that, when considering the maximum credit toward the defendant's sentence to which the defendant would be entitled to earn as a result of the defendant's conduct while confined in the county jail of the county in which the offense occurred, exceeds the maximum term of confinement that may be imposed on conviction of the offense of which the defendant is accused. (b) This article does not apply to a defendant who is being evaluated for competency or subject to an order of commitment issued under Chapter 46B. SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to a person who is arrested on or after the effective date of this Act. A person arrested before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the person was arrested, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.