As of Sept. 1, 2003, Art. 42.12 Sec. 15 requires a Judge to place a defendant on probation for certain drug offenses. Sec. 4 of HB 2668 indicates that the Act applies to any case in which a judgment has not been entered prior to Sept. 1, 2003. This seems to suggest that even if a defendant committed the drug offense prior to Sept. 1, 2003 but a judgment and sentence has not yet been entered, the Judge must grant probation. Is this a correct "read" of this new provision????

Yes, the Legislature wanted to capture all the state jail felonies that had not yet resulted in a sentence. So, even if the offense occurred before 9/1/03, you have to follow the automatic probation law, so long as the sentence is on or after 9/1/03.

Of course, you still could do a direct sentence by:

a) using section 12.44(a) and impose county jail time;

b) amend the indictment to allege POCS with intent to deliver (assuming defendant agrees to this);

c) find a prior felony conviction.

The new legislation also applies to someone who has been on deferred adjudication and whose motion to adjudicate is heard after September 1, 2003. County jail time, state jail time, SAFPF, or ISF could be made a condition of probation once the defendant is adjudicated.