By: De La Garza H.B. No. 290
73R2295 GWK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the imposition, collection, and disposal of a cost of
1-3 court on felony convictions and certain misdemeanor convictions.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 102, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-6 amended by adding Subchapter E to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER E. CRIMINAL ASSESSMENT COST
1-8 Art. 102.091. COSTS. (a) A defendant convicted of a felony
1-9 shall pay as a cost of court $100.
1-10 (b) A defendant convicted of a misdemeanor punishable by
1-11 confinement in county jail shall pay as a cost of court $50.
1-12 (c) The clerk of the court shall collect the costs at the
1-13 time of sentencing, unless the defendant files a motion for new
1-14 trial or files an appeal, in which event the clerk of the court
1-15 shall collect the cost when the conviction is final.
1-16 Art. 102.092. RECORD OF COLLECTION. A clerk of the court
1-17 collecting costs due under this subchapter shall keep separate
1-18 records of the funds collected as costs under this subchapter and
1-19 shall deposit the funds in the county treasury.
1-20 Art. 102.093. REPORTS REQUIRED. (a) Clerks of the court
1-21 collecting funds due as costs under this subchapter shall file the
1-22 report required under Article 103.005.
1-23 (b) If no funds due as costs under this subchapter have been
1-24 collected in any quarter, the report required for each quarter
2-1 shall be filed in the regular manner, and the report shall state
2-2 that no funds due under this subchapter were collected.
2-3 Art. 102.094. TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO COMPTROLLER. (a) The
2-4 custodian of the county treasury may deposit the funds collected
2-5 under this subchapter in an interest-bearing account. The
2-6 custodian shall keep records of the amount of funds collected under
2-7 this subchapter that are on deposit with the custodian and shall on
2-8 or before the last day of the month following each calendar quarter
2-9 period of three months remit to the comptroller of public accounts
2-10 funds collected under this subchapter during the preceding quarter.
2-11 (b) A county treasury may retain 10 percent of each cost
2-12 collected under this subchapter as a service fee for the collection
2-13 and may also retain all interest accrued on the funds if the
2-14 custodian of the treasury keeps records of the amount of funds
2-15 collected under this subchapter that are on deposit with the
2-16 treasury and remits the funds to the comptroller within the period
2-17 prescribed in Subsection (a) of this article.
2-18 Art. 102.095. COMPTROLLER'S DUTY. The comptroller of public
2-19 accounts shall deposit the funds received by the comptroller under
2-20 this subchapter in the general revenue fund.
2-21 Art. 102.096. (a) A sheriff or the institutional division
2-22 of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall collect costs
2-23 assessed against a defendant under this subchapter as provided by
2-24 this article if the clerk of the court does not collect the costs
2-25 as required under Article 102.091(c) of this code.
2-26 (b) A sheriff shall withdraw any money in a trust fund or
2-27 account maintained by the sheriff for the benefit of a defendant
3-1 confined in county jail until the amount withdrawn equals the costs
3-2 assessed. The sheriff shall deposit the funds collected under this
3-3 subsection in the county treasury, and the custodian of the county
3-4 treasury shall dispose of those funds in the manner provided by
3-5 Article 102.094 of this code.
3-6 (c) The institutional division shall withdraw any money in
3-7 the inmate trust fund established for the inmate under Section
3-8 501.014, Government Code, until the amount withdrawn equals the
3-9 costs assessed. The institutional division shall transfer the
3-10 funds collected under this subsection to the comptroller of public
3-11 accounts, and the comptroller shall dispose of those funds in the
3-12 manner provided by Article 102.095 of this code.
3-13 SECTION 2. Section 501.015, Government Code, is amended by
3-14 adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
3-15 (f) If costs assessed against an inmate under Subchapter E,
3-16 Chapter 102, Code of Criminal Procedure, have not been collected in
3-17 full by the time of the inmate's discharge, the institutional
3-18 division shall reduce the amount of money the division would
3-19 otherwise give the inmate on discharge under Subsection (b) by the
3-20 amount of the unpaid costs. The institutional division shall
3-21 transfer the amount reduced from the discharge payment to the
3-22 comptroller of public accounts. The comptroller of public accounts
3-23 shall dispose of funds collected under this subsection in the
3-24 manner provided by Article 102.095, Code of Criminal Procedure.
3-25 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
3-26 applies only to the imposition of a cost of court on a conviction
3-27 of an offense committed on or after that date. For purposes of
4-1 this section, an offense is committed before the effective date, if
4-2 any element of the offense occurs before that date.
4-3 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.