Sec. 508.141.  AUTHORITY TO CONSIDER AND ORDER RELEASE ON PAROLE.  (a)  A parole panel may consider for release and release on parole an inmate who:
(1)  has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment in the institutional division;
(2)  is confined in a penal or correctional institution, including a jail in this state, a federal correctional institution, or a jail or a correctional institution in another state;  and
(3)  is eligible for release on parole.
(b)  A parole is issued only on the order of a parole panel.
(c)  Before releasing an inmate on parole, a parole panel may have the inmate appear before the panel and interview the inmate.
(d)  A parole panel may release an inmate on parole during the parole month established for the inmate if the panel determines that the inmate's release will not increase the likelihood of harm to the public.
(e)  A parole panel may release an inmate on parole only when:
(1)  arrangements have been made for the inmate's employment or for the inmate's maintenance and care, which may include the issuance of payment for the cost of temporary post-release housing under Section 508.157; and
(2)  the parole panel believes that the inmate is able and willing to fulfill the obligations of a law-abiding citizen.
(f)  A parole panel may order a parole only for the best interest of society and not as an award of clemency.
(g)  The board shall adopt a policy establishing the date on which the board may reconsider for release an inmate who has previously been denied release.  The policy must require the board to reconsider for release:
(1)  an inmate serving a sentence for an offense listed in Section 508.149(a) or for an offense punishable as a felony of the second or third degree under Section 22.04, Penal Code, during a month designated under Subsection (g-1) by the parole panel that denied release; and
(2)  an inmate other than an inmate described by Subdivision (1) as soon as practicable after the first anniversary of the date of the denial.
(g-1)  The month designated under Subsection (g)(1) by the parole panel that denied release must begin after the first anniversary of the date of the denial and end before the fifth anniversary of the date of the denial, unless the inmate is serving a sentence for an offense under Section 22.021, Penal Code, or a life sentence for a capital felony, in which event the designated month must begin after the first anniversary of the date of the denial and end before the 10th anniversary of the date of the denial.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 12.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.  Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 349, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2003;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., 3rd C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 11.17, eff. Jan. 11, 2004.
Amended by: 
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 944 (H.B. 3226), Sec. 2, eff. June 19, 2009.
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1256 (H.B. 431), Sec. 2, eff. June 14, 2013.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 358 (H.B. 1914), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2015.