1-1 By: Stiles (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 772
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House March 8, 1993;
1-3 March 9, 1993, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Criminal Justice; May 6, 1993, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0;
1-6 May 6, 1993, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE VOTE
1-8 Yea Nay PNV Absent
1-9 Whitmire x
1-10 Brown x
1-11 Nelson x
1-12 Sibley x
1-13 Sims x
1-14 Turner x
1-15 West x
1-16 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 772 By: Brown
1-17 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-18 AN ACT
1-19 relating to the disposition of abandoned or unclaimed property.
1-20 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-21 SECTION 1. Article 18.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-22 amended by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
1-23 (h) If the abandoned or unclaimed personal property is
1-24 money, the municipal or county purchasing agent, or the sheriff of
1-25 the county, as appropriate, may, after giving notice under
1-26 Subsection (b) or (c) of this article, deposit the money in the
1-27 treasury of the municipality or county giving notice without
1-28 conducting the sale as required by Subsection (d) of this article.
1-29 SECTION 2. Subsection (f), Article 18.17, Code of Criminal
1-30 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-31 (f) For the purposes of this article, "purchasing agent of
1-32 the municipality" means the person who is primarily responsible for
1-33 making purchases on behalf of a municipality or a person designated
1-34 by the municipality. "Person designated by a municipality" means
1-35 an officer or employee of a municipality who is designated by the
1-36 municipality to be primarily responsible for the disposition of
1-37 property under this article.
1-38 SECTION 3. Subsections (c) and (d), Article 18.17, Code of
1-39 Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
1-40 (c) If the property has a fair market value of $500 or more
1-41 and the owner <of such property is unknown> or <if> the address of
1-42 the owner is unknown, the municipal or county purchasing agent or
1-43 the sheriff, as the case may be, shall cause to be published once
1-44 in a paper of general circulation in the municipality or county a
1-45 notice containing a description of the property held, the name of
1-46 the owner if known, the name and address of the officer holding
1-47 such property, and a statement that if the owner does not claim
1-48 such property with 90 days <six months> from the date of the
1-49 publication such property will be sold and proceeds of such sale,
1-50 after deducting the reasonable expense of keeping such property and
1-51 the costs of the sale, placed in the treasury of the municipality
1-52 or county selling the property. If the property has a fair market
1-53 value of less than $500 and the owner or the address of the owner
1-54 is unknown, the municipal or county purchasing agent or the sheriff
1-55 may sell or donate the property. The purchasing agent or the
1-56 sheriff shall deposit the sale proceeds, after deducting the
1-57 reasonable expense of keeping the property and costs of the sale,
1-58 in the treasury of the municipality or county selling or donating
1-59 the property.
1-60 (d) The sale under this article of any property that has a
1-61 fair market value of $500 or more <hereunder> shall be preceded by
1-62 a notice published once at least three weeks prior to the date of
1-63 such sale in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality
1-64 or county where the sale is to take place, stating the description
1-65 of the property, the names of the owner if known, and the date and
1-66 place that such sale will occur. <If the municipal or county
1-67 purchasing agent or sheriff, as the case may be, shall consider any
1-68 bid as insufficient, he need not sell such property but may decline
2-1 such bid and reoffer such property for sale.>
2-2 SECTION 4. Article 18.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
2-3 amended by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
2-4 (i) While offering the property for sale under this article,
2-5 if a municipal or county purchasing agent or sheriff considers any
2-6 bid as insufficient, the agent or sheriff may decline the bid and
2-7 reoffer the property for sale.
2-8 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-13 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-14 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-15 * * * * *
2-16 Austin,
2-17 Texas
2-18 May 6, 1993
2-19 Hon. Bob Bullock
2-20 President of the Senate
2-21 Sir:
2-22 We, your Committee on Criminal Justice to which was referred H.B.
2-23 No. 772, have had the same under consideration, and I am instructed
2-24 to report it back to the Senate with the recommendation that it do
2-25 not pass, but that the Committee Substitute adopted in lieu thereof
2-26 do pass and be printed.
2-27 Whitmire,
2-28 Chairman
2-29 * * * * *
2-30 WITNESSES
2-31 FOR AGAINST ON
2-32 ___________________________________________________________________
2-33 Name: Susan Horton x
2-34 Representing: Tx Municipal League
2-35 City: Austin
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2-37 Name: S. C. Van Vlech x
2-38 Representing: Ft. Worth Police Dept
2-39 City: Ft Worth
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