By:  Gallego                                          H.B. No. 2600
       73R6839 CLG-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the rules that govern the amount of bail set in a
    1-3  criminal case.
    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.  The amount of
    1-8  bail to be required in any case is to be regulated by the court,
    1-9  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 or of the victim's family may be considered.
   1-22        SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
   1-23  only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
   1-24  Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
    2-1  the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
    2-2  before the effective date.
    2-3        (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
    2-4  Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
    2-5  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
    2-6        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
    2-7        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
    2-8  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    2-9  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-10  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-11  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.