1. (a) If as authorized by Section 841.123 the judge does not deny a petition for release filed by the committed person without the case manager's authorization, the judge shall conduct as soon as practicable a hearing on the petition.
2. (b) The petitioner and the state are entitled to an immediate examination of the person by an expert.
3. (c) On request of the petitioner or the attorney representing the state, the court shall conduct the hearing before a jury.
4. (d) The burden of proof at the hearing is on the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the petitioner's behavioral abnormality has not changed to the extent that the petitioner is no longer likely to engage in a predatory act of sexual violence.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1188, Sec. 4.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.