A five year minimum prison term and no deferred adjudication for some felonies where a firearm was used
What it does
HB 773 would raise the minimum prison term to five years for certain second and third degree felonies when the judge has entered an affirmative finding in the judgment, including offenses where a firearm was used or exhibited. It would also bar a judge from granting deferred adjudication community supervision for felonies listed in state law when the judge finds a firearm was used or exhibited during the offense or during the immediate flight from it. It would set a five calendar year floor before an inmate serving one of those sentences can be considered for parole, and would require at least five years of community supervision when a jury recommends it. The bill would take effect September 1, 2027 and would apply only to offenses committed on or after that date.
What it means for your community
For families and neighborhoods, the practical effect is more time served and less room for early release in a set of felonies. The bill would also close one of the options a judge can use for supervision in those cases, and it would make sentences for offenses committed while on community supervision start right away once the earlier sentence ends. The change would apply only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2027, so sentences for earlier crimes would stay under current law.
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