By:  Martin                                            H.B. No. 223
       73R1719 DAK-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to authorizing a juvenile court to require certain persons
    1-3  to post a cash bond when a child is placed on probation.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Chapter 54, Family Code, is amended by adding
    1-6  Section 54.043 to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 54.043.  CASH BOND DURING PROBATION.  (a)  When a court
    1-8  or jury has, under Section 54.04(d)(1)(A) of this code, placed a
    1-9  child on probation in the child's own home or in the custody of a
   1-10  relative or other fit person, the court may require that the
   1-11  child's parents or the relative or other fit person under whose
   1-12  supervision the child has been placed post a cash bond with the
   1-13  court as provided by this section.
   1-14        (b)  The court shall require that the bond provide that the
   1-15  child will not violate the terms of the child's probation.  If the
   1-16  child violates the child's probation, the bond is subject to
   1-17  forfeiture under applicable law.
   1-18        (c)  The court may require that the bond is in an amount that
   1-19  does not exceed:
   1-20              (1)  $1,000 for a child who has been adjudicated as
   1-21  having engaged in delinquent conduct; or
   1-22              (2)  $500 for a child who has been adjudicated as
   1-23  having engaged in conduct indicating a need for supervision.
   1-24        (d)  The court may transfer the bond for deposit with the
    2-1  county treasurer or a responsible financial institution subject to
    2-2  disposition by order of the court.
    2-3        (e)  On forfeiture of the bond, the proceeds shall be used to
    2-4  pay for any damages arising as a result of the violation of the
    2-5  child's probation.  Any amount that remains shall be paid to the
    2-6  Texas Youth Commission for its use in carrying out its purposes.
    2-7        (f)  If the child's probation ends without forfeiture of the
    2-8  bond, the bond is void and the amount of the bond shall be returned
    2-9  under the direction of the court to the person who deposited the
   2-10  bond.
   2-11        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
   2-12  applies to an order of a juvenile court placing a child on
   2-13  probation that takes effect on or after that date  without regard
   2-14  to whether the juvenile proceedings commenced before, on, or after
   2-15  that date.
   2-16        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-17  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-18  emergency   and   an   imperative   public   necessity   that   the
   2-19  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-20  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.