By:  Edwards                                          H.B. No. 1382
       73R5186 CLG-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to bail for persons charged with felonies under the Texas
    1-3  Controlled Substances Act.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Article 17.15, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
    1-6  amended to read as follows:
    1-7        Art. 17.15.  Rules For Fixing Amount Of Bail.  (a)  The
    1-8  amount of bail to be required in any case is to be regulated by the
    1-9  court, judge, magistrate or officer taking the bail; they are to be
   1-10  governed in the exercise of this discretion by the Constitution and
   1-11  by the following rules:
   1-12              1.  The bail shall be sufficiently high to give
   1-13  reasonable assurance that the undertaking will be complied with.
   1-14              2.  The power to require bail is not to be so used as
   1-15  to make it an instrument of oppression.
   1-16              3.  The nature of the offense and the circumstances
   1-17  under which it was committed are to be considered.
   1-18              4.  The ability to make bail is to be regarded, and
   1-19  proof may be taken upon this point.
   1-20              5.  The future safety of a victim of the alleged
   1-21  offense may be considered.
   1-22        (b)  In setting bail under this article for a defendant
   1-23  charged with a felony under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, it
   1-24  is suggested that the following amounts be set:
    2-1              1.  for a felony of possession that is not classified
    2-2  as an aggravated felony under that chapter, not less than $5,000;
    2-3              2.  for a felony of possession that is classified as an
    2-4  aggravated felony under that chapter, not less than $10,000;
    2-5              3.  for a felony of manufacture, delivery, or
    2-6  possession with intent to manufacture or deliver that is not
    2-7  classified as an aggravated felony under that chapter, not less
    2-8  than $15,000; and
    2-9              4.  for a felony of manufacture, delivery, or
   2-10  possession with intent to manufacture or deliver that is classified
   2-11  as an aggravated felony, not less than $20,000.
   2-12        SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
   2-13  only to a person charged with an offense committed on or after the
   2-14  effective date of this Act.  For purposes of this section, an
   2-15  offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any
   2-16  element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
   2-17        (b)  A person charged with an offense committed before the
   2-18  effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the
   2-19  offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect
   2-20  for this purpose.
   2-21        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   2-22        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-23  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-24  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-25  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-26  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.