---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to jury instructions regarding parole eligibility."
description: "Relating to jury instructions regarding parole eligibility."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tx"
legislature: "Texas Legislature"
session: "86"
identifier: "HB 1279"
citation: "Texas HB 1279 (86)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Corrections--Parole", "Probation & Pardons (I0093)", "Courts--Juries (I0145)", "Criminal Procedure--General (I0208)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Allen", "Menéndez"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 46
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-02-01"
last_action: "2019-05-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3da9949a-28e6-43d6-83d9-952e04c6907c"
source_url: "ftp://ftp.legis.state.tx.us/bills/86R/billhistory/house_bills/HB01200_HB01299/HB 1279.xml"
source_hash: "07d942f38b7c3b3e230753f00e8a03927643e7f17bc5d63e4775cb2befbd4f28"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tx"]
---

# Texas HB 1279 (86) — Relating to jury instructions regarding parole eligibility.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/86R/billtext/html/HB01279I.HTM)

## Votes

- passage — **144–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Allen — primary (person)
- Menéndez — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-01** Filed `filing`
- **2019-02-27** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-02-27** Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-18** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-03-18** Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
- **2019-03-18** Left pending in committee
- **2019-03-25** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-03-25** Reported favorably w/o amendment(s) `committee-passage`
- **2019-03-29** Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
- **2019-03-29** Committee report distributed
- **2019-04-01** Committee report sent to Calendars
- **2019-04-05** Considered in Calendars
- **2019-04-08** Considered in Calendars
- **2019-04-11** Placed on General State Calendar
- **2019-04-11** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2019-04-11** Passed to engrossment
- **2019-04-12** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2019-04-12** Passed `passage`
- **2019-04-12** Record vote
- **2019-04-12** Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-04-12** Reported engrossed
- **2019-04-15** Received from the House `introduction`
- **2019-04-16** Read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-04-16** Referred to Criminal Justice `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-08** Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
- **2019-05-08** Considered in public hearing
- **2019-05-09** Reported favorably w/o amendments `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-05-09** Recommended for local & uncontested calendar
- **2019-05-09** Committee report printed and distributed
- **2019-05-13** Placed on intent calendar
- **2019-05-15** Placed on local & uncontested calendar
- **2019-05-15** Laid before the Senate
- **2019-05-15** Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
- **2019-05-15** Vote recorded in Journal
- **2019-05-15** Three day rule suspended
- **2019-05-15** Record vote
- **2019-05-15** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2019-05-15** Passed `passage`
- **2019-05-15** Record vote
- **2019-05-15** Senate passage reported
- **2019-05-16** Reported enrolled
- **2019-05-17** Signed in the House
- **2019-05-17** Signed in the Senate
- **2019-05-17** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-05-28** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-28** Effective on 9/1/19 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3da9949a-28e6-43d6-83d9-952e04c6907c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Texas legislature records).