By:  Barrientos                                       S.B. No. 1158
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the participation in pro bono legal services to
    1-2  low-income Texans by prosecutors.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Chapter 41 of the Texas Government Code is
    1-5  amended by adding Section 41.014 to read as follows:
    1-6        Sec. 41.014  PRO BONO LEGAL SERVICES TO LOW-INCOME TEXANS.
    1-7  (a)  Prosecuting attorneys and assistant prosecuting attorneys
    1-8  subject to the provisions of this chapter and chapter 46 shall not
    1-9  be prohibited from providing pro bono legal services to the poor
   1-10  without compensation.
   1-11        (b)  In this section, pro bono legal services to the poor
   1-12  includes:
   1-13              (1)  the direct provision of legal services to the
   1-14  poor, without an expectation of compensation, whether civil or
   1-15  criminal;
   1-16              (2)  uncompensated legal services rendered to
   1-17  charitable, public interest organizations with respect to matters
   1-18  or projects designed predominantly to address the needs of poor
   1-19  persons;
   1-20        (c)  Pro bono legal services to the poor provided by a
   1-21  prosecuting attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney shall not
   1-22  interfere with the official duties of the attorney and shall not be
   1-23  deemed within the scope of employment of the attorney.
    2-1        (d)  The State of Texas and its subdivisions assume no
    2-2  liability for the pro bono activities performed under this section.
    2-3        (e)  The provision of pro bono legal services to the poor as
    2-4  authorized by this section shall not constitute the private
    2-5  practice of law.
    2-6        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect on September 1, 1993.
    2-7        SECTION 3.  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.