By Black                                              H.B. No. 2246
       74R6710 RJA-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the attorney general account and the attorney general
    1-3  law enforcement account; making an appropriation.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 402.005, Government Code, as amended by
    1-6  Chapters 380 and 761, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular
    1-7  Session, 1993, is amended to read as follows:
    1-8        Sec. 402.005.  ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS, GRANTS, AND FORFEITED
    1-9  ASSETS; CREATION OF SPECIAL ACCOUNTS <ACCOUNT>.  (a)  The attorney
   1-10  general may not accept or use money offered by an individual, firm,
   1-11  partnership, corporation, or association for investigating or
   1-12  prosecuting a matter.
   1-13        (b)  The attorney general may accept gifts and grants on
   1-14  behalf of the state for purposes related to duties performed by the
   1-15  attorney general or to public educational opportunities, unless the
   1-16  acceptance is prohibited under Subsection (a) or other law.  Money
   1-17  received under this subsection shall be deposited in the state
   1-18  treasury to the credit of an account established in the general
   1-19  revenue fund for the receipt of those funds.
   1-20        (c) <(b)>  The attorney general law enforcement account is
   1-21  created as a dedicated account in the general revenue fund in the
   1-22  state treasury.  The account shall consist of law
   1-23  enforcement-related gifts and grants, recovered criminal penalties,
   1-24  recovered costs in criminal cases in which the attorney general is
    2-1  involved, including investigative costs, witness fees, deposition
    2-2  costs, and attorney's fees, and forfeited assets, and shall be
    2-3  administered by the attorney general.
    2-4        (d) <(c)>  The attorney general may accept gifts and grants
    2-5  on behalf of the state for purposes related to law enforcement
    2-6  duties performed by the attorney general, unless the acceptance is
    2-7  prohibited under Subsection (a) or other law.   Money received
    2-8  under this subsection shall be deposited in the law enforcement
    2-9  account established pursuant to Subsection (c) <(b)> and may be
   2-10  appropriated only for the purpose for which the money was given.
   2-11        (e)  Sections 403.094 and 403.095 do not apply to the
   2-12  accounts established by this section.  Any unexpended balance in a
   2-13  fund created by this section at the end of a fiscal biennium
   2-14  remains in the fund and shall be carried forward to the next
   2-15  biennium.
   2-16        SECTION 2.  All money deposited to the credit of the funds
   2-17  created under Section 402.005, Government Code, and all interest
   2-18  from the deposit of those funds, are appropriated to the office of
   2-19  the attorney general for the fiscal biennium ending August 31,
   2-20  1997, for the purposes provided by Section 402.005, Government
   2-21  Code.
   2-22        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   2-23        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-24  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-25  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-26  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-27  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.