Punishment & Probation (2023-2025)

Punishment & Probation, written by TDCAA Senior Staff Counsel Diane Beckham, covers all the law relevant to sentencing. Punishment & Probation, first published in 2014, has been updated with the latest statutes (from the 2023 session) and caselaw from the U.S. Supreme Court and Texas courts.

Complete with charts that spell out potential sentencing options for different types of offenses, Punishment & Probation describes the application of Code of Criminal Procedure Chapters 42 and 42A for sentencing, community supervision, deferred adjudication, and pretrial diversion. The book also includes information about:

admonishments;
multiple offenses;
punishment evidence;
time credit;
financial payments (including restitution and court costs);
enhancements;
collateral consequences;
judgments;
parole;
community supervision eligibility, conditions, and revocation; and
differences between community supervision and deferred adjudication.

$37.00

All orders must be paid for online before picking up your order. Orders may be placed at www.tdcaa.com/books

We require the physical card used to place the order to be present for pickup, and the name on the card must match the photo ID of the person picking up the order. A photocopy of the front of the physical credit card and photo ID will be made at time of pick up, and the photocopy will need to be signed for our records as proof of purchase.

Thank you for your patience and support of TDCAA Publications.

2024 Penal Code Changes

In its 3^rd Special Session of 2023, the 88^th Legislature passed SB 4, “relating to the punishment for certain criminal conduct involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a stash house; increasing criminal penalties,” which amended 10 statutes in the Texas Penal Code and enacted one new statute, effective 2/6/24. The changes to those 11 statutes are included in the PDF posted here. The changes will also be incorporated into the next edition of TDCAA’s code books in summer 2025, along with any other changes made in the 89^th Session.

Stays granted on SB 4 (4^th Special Session):

In its 4^th Special Session of 2023, the 88^th Legislature passed another version of SB 4, “relating to prohibitions on the illegal entry into or illegal presence in this state by a person who is an alien, the enforcement of those prohibitions and certain related orders, including immunity from liability and indemnification for enforcement actions, and authorizing or requiring under certain circumstances the removal of persons who violate those prohibitions; creating criminal offenses.” This bill enacted a new chapter of the Texas Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure and amended other statutes in the Code of Criminal Procedure and Government Code, effective 3/5/24.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether these new immigration laws can be enforced. Although those laws were set to take effect on March 5, 2024, a federal district judge granted a preliminary injunction against enforcing the provisions of SB 4. The 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then set aside the federal district court’s ruling, and an order issued by Justice Samuel Alito on March 4 has put the laws on hold until 5pm March 13 when the full Supreme Court is expected to weigh in.

Appellate Rules & Parole Laws

Because of the continued growth of codes amended by the legislature, the 2021 code books will omit the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure and parole laws (Gov’t Code ch. 508). We will post PDF versions of both, available to download for free here.