BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.S.B. 1318

By: Huffman

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

In 2021, the Legislature passed S.B. 6, overhauling the state's bail system and increasing the amount of information available to judges when setting bail, along with the amount of statewide data tracked on bail outcomes. However, additional clarification may help resolve certain ambiguities and enhance public safety. C.S.S.B. 1318 seeks to address the release practices surrounding habitual and violent offenders and aims to better protect the safety of victims, law enforcement, and communities.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.S.B. 1318 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System (OCA), without cost to a county, to allow the county to integrate the county's jail records management system and case management system with the public safety report system developed by OCA. The bill authorizes a magistrate to order, prepare, or consider a public safety report in setting bail for a defendant who is not in custody at the time the report is ordered, prepared, or considered.

C.S.S.B. 1318 requires a magistrate, not later than 24 hours after the time the magistrate determines that no probable cause exists to believe that a person committed the offense for which the person was arrested, to make oral or written findings of fact and conclusions of law to support that finding.

C.S.S.B. 1318 requires a magistrate to release a defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor on personal bond unless the release on personal bond is otherwise prohibited by law or the magistrate enters a finding on the record that no conditions of release are sufficient to reasonably ensure the defendant's appearance in court as required and the safety of the community, law enforcement, and the victim of the alleged offense. This bill limits the applicability of this requirement to a defendant who has not previously been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for an offense, other than a fine-only traffic offense. The bill defines "nonviolent misdemeanor" as any offense punishable as a misdemeanor, other than any of the following offenses punishable as a Class A or Class B misdemeanor:

· an offense related to kidnapping, unlawful restraint, or smuggling of persons;

· a sexual offense;

· an assaultive offense;

· an offense against the family;

· an offense of disorderly conduct or a related offense;

· an offense related to public indecency;

· a weapons offense;

· an offense related to organized crime;

· driving while intoxicated in which an analysis of a specimen of the person's blood, breath, or urine showed an alcohol concentration level of 0.15 or more; or

· boating while intoxicated.

C.S.S.B. 1318 prohibits the release of a defendant on personal bond if the defendant is charged with any of the following offenses:

· manufacturing or delivering a controlled substances in Penalty Group 1-B under the Texas Controlled Substances Act, which includes fentanyl, alpha-methylfentanyl, and any other derivative of fentanyl;

· violation of certain court orders or conditions of bond in a family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault or abuse, indecent assault, stalking, or trafficking case; or

· unlawful possession of a firearm.

C.S.S.B. 1318 prohibits a magistrate from releasing on bail a defendant charged with an offense punishable as a felony unless the defendant has appeared before the magistrate and the magistrate has considered the public safety report prepared for the defendant.

C.S.S.B. 1318 revises the requirement for electronic notice regarding a defendant who is charged with committing an offense punishable as a felony while released on bail for another pending offense punishable as a felony and the subsequent offense was committed in a different county than the previous offense as follows:

· by changing the recipient of the notice from the court before whom the case for the previous offense is pending or another court designated by such a court to an individual designated to receive electronic notices for the county in which the previous offense was committed; and

· by specifying that the notice must be given not later than the next business day after the date the defendant is charged.

The bill requires the local administrative district judge for each county to designate such an individual. The bill requires the county to ensure that the name and contact information of the individual designated to receive notices is:

· provided on all criminal history and warrant documents issued by the county; and

· included in the public safety report system developed by OCA.

The bill requires the designated individual who receives an electronic notice to promptly provide the notice to the applicable court and to the state's attorney and the defendant's attorney in the pending case for the offense for which the defendant was initially released on bail. The bill establishes that such a notice provided by a designated individual does not constitute an ex parte communication.

With respect to a defendant charged with committing an offense punishable as a felony while released on bail in a pending case for another offense punishable as a felony, the bill requires the court before which the case for the previous offense is pending to consider whether to revoke or modify the terms of the previous bond or to otherwise reevaluate the previous bail decision. The bill entitles the state to appeal an order of a court in a criminal case if the order grants bail, in an amount considered insufficient by the prosecuting attorney, to a defendant who is charged with an offense punishable as a felony and has previously been granted bail for a pending offense punishable as a felony.

C.S.S.B. 1318 prohibits a criminal law hearing officer appointed under statutory provisions governing masters, magistrates, referees, and associate judges from making a bail decision regarding a defendant who either:

· is charged with committing any of the following offenses:

o murder;

o capital murder;

o aggravated kidnapping;

o aggravated assault; or

o aggravated sexual assault; or

· is charged with committing an offense punishable as a felony and the defendant:

o was on parole at the time of the offense;

o has previously been finally convicted of two or more offenses punishable as a felony and for which the defendant was imprisoned in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; or

o is subject to an immigration detainer issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

C.S.S.B. 1318 includes within the statutorily prescribed language of the notice that a peace officer who investigates a family violence allegation or who responds to a disturbance call that may involve family violence must give a victim that the victim has the right to provide information to the local prosecutor that will be helpful to a magistrate setting bail if the person committing family violence is arrested.

C.S.S.B. 1318 amends the Government Code to require a person who releases a defendant on bail under the authority of a standing order related to bail to complete the bail form promulgated by OCA and incorporated into the public safety report system.

C.S.S.B. 1318 applies only to a person who is arrested on or after the bill's effective date. A person arrested before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the person was arrested, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF SENATE ENGROSSED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.S.B. 1318 may differ from the engrossed in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the engrossed and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The engrossed prohibited a criminal law hearing officer from releasing on bail a defendant who:

· is charged with committing murder, capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, or aggravated sexual assault; or

· is charged with committing an offense punishable as a felony and the defendant:

o was on parole at the time of the offense;

o has previously been finally convicted of two or more offenses punishable as a felony and for which the defendant was imprisoned in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; or

o is subject to an immigration detainer issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The substitute instead prohibits a criminal law hearing officer from making a bail decision regarding such a defendant.

While both the engrossed and substitute prohibit the release of a defendant on personal bond if the defendant is charged with certain offenses, the substitute omits a terroristic threat offense from those offenses, which was present in the engrossed.

The substitute includes a requirement absent from the engrossed for a magistrate to release an applicable defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor on personal bond unless the release on personal bond is otherwise prohibited by law or the magistrate enters a finding on the record that no conditions of release are sufficient to reasonably ensure the defendant's appearance in court as required and the safety of the community, law enforcement, and the victim of the alleged offense.

With respect to a defendant for whom the state appeals an order of the court that grants bail in an amount considered insufficient by the prosecuting attorney, the engrossed included provisions that did the following:

· excluded the defendant from reasonable bail; and

· required the defendant to be held in custody during the pendency of the appeal.

The substitute omits these provisions.

Whereas the engrossed made its provisions applicable only to an offense committed on or after the bill's effective date, the substitute makes its provisions applicable to a person who is arrested on or after the bill's effective date.