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House Bill 1445 |
House Author: Thompson, Senfronia et al. |
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Effective: 5-28-13 |
Senate Sponsor: Duncan |
House Bill 1445 establishes the Chief Justice Jack Pope Act. The bill amends the Government Code to raise from $10 million to $50 million the cap on the total amount that the comptroller of public accounts may credit to the judicial fund each state fiscal biennium for approved programs that provide basic legal services to the indigent. The bill adds a source of funding for such programs by requiring the net amount of civil restitution recovered by the attorney general in certain actions to be credited to the judicial fund under certain conditions. The bill requires the attorney general to notify the Legislative Budget Board if a court enters a judgment or order that restitution be so credited and specifies that provisions relating to the payment into the state treasury and allocation of debts, penalties, or restitution recovered by the attorney general do not limit the common law authority or other statutory authority of the attorney general to seek and obtain cy pres distribution.