The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee has again recommended a bill that would close a sentencing loophole for 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder.

Members passed House Bill 4 with a 5-1 vote Tuesday morning after public testimony Monday.

State Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, cast the vote against recommendation. He has been pushing his own version of a new sentencing structure that would allow for life in prison with parole and life without parole. But House Bill 10 also included a lengthy list of mitigating circumstances to be used during sentencing.

Canales' bill was left pending in committee.

This is the third time that lawmakers have tried to get the matter resolved. Gov. Rick Perry added the sentencing issue to the first and now second special sessions after prosecutors statewide urged action.

In Texas, that affected one particular population: 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder. They receive a mandatory sentence of life without parole.

After that was deemed unconstitutional, pending cases and those on appeal were put on hold, officials have testified.

Prosecutors have asked that legislators move 17-year-old capital murder defendants in with the criminal code that covers juveniles, ages 14 to 16, who receive mandatory life sentences with parole eligibility after 40 years.

The Senate repeatedly has approved a bill that would do just that, but representatives have gone back and forth on what is appropriate punishment for a juvenile.

The companion bill, Senate Bill 2, also has passed out of committee and is waiting on a full hearing.