Excellent News

Representative Suzanna Gratia Hupp has signed on as the third author of HB 658.

But wait!! There's more! Thanks to Ann's Solutions for Texas site for bringing this to my attention:

The Legislative Budget Board has released their report: Adult and Juvenile Correctional Population Projections Fiscal Years 2005–2010.

It includes this text:

APPENDIX C: QUALITATIVE REVIEW FINDINGS

SOME OF THE OPTIONS RECOMMENDED TO DECREASE THE RISING ADULT INCARCERATION POPULATION TRENDS WERE:

• Revise Chapter 42.12 (Community Supervision) of the Code of Criminal Procedure to update probation requirements and practices (e.g., length and standard conditions of probation);
• Revise the Penal Code to remove offenders convicted of possessing small amounts of drugs from the state jail/prison system; and
• Give offenders in the community incentives for completing treatment (e.g., reduce sentence length).