By Cain S.B. No. 1568
74R7607 GWK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the imposition of a bond approval fee in a criminal
1-3 case.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-6 amended by adding Article 17.425 to read as follows:
1-7 Art. 17.425. BOND APPROVAL FEE. (a) Except as provided by
1-8 Subsection (b), a person released on bond following an arrest for a
1-9 misdemeanor or a felony shall pay $25 for the services of a peace
1-10 officer for taking and approving a bond and, if necessary,
1-11 returning the bond to the courthouse.
1-12 (b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a defendant released on
1-13 personal bond or released on bond after being charged with a
1-14 violation of a traffic law punishable by fine only.
1-15 (c) An officer collecting a fee under this article shall pay
1-16 the fee to the custodian of the county treasury, who shall deposit
1-17 the fee in a fund in the county treasury. The commissioners court
1-18 may use money in the fund to pay claims against the county
1-19 resulting from litigation concerning the collection of bail bonds
1-20 or other criminal justice approval fees or, if claims against the
1-21 county do not exist or all claims have been satisfied, to pay costs
1-22 for the administration of justice in the county.
1-23 SECTION 2. Article 102.011(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
1-24 is amended to read as follows:
2-1 (a) A defendant convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor shall
2-2 pay the following fees for services performed in the case by a
2-3 peace officer:
2-4 (1) $5 for issuing a written notice to appear in court
2-5 following the defendant's violation of a traffic law, municipal
2-6 ordinance, or penal law of this state, or for making an arrest
2-7 without a warrant;
2-8 (2) $35 for executing or processing an issued arrest
2-9 warrant or capias, with the fee imposed for the services of:
2-10 (A) the law enforcement agency that executed the
2-11 arrest warrant or capias, if the agency requests of the court, not
2-12 later than the 15th day after the date of the execution of the
2-13 arrest warrant or capias, the imposition of the fee on conviction;
2-14 or
2-15 (B) the law enforcement agency that processed
2-16 the arrest warrant or capias, if the executing law enforcement
2-17 agency failed to request the fee within the period required by
2-18 Paragraph (A) of this subdivision;
2-19 (3) $5 for summoning a witness;
2-20 (4) $35 for serving a writ not otherwise listed in
2-21 this article;
2-22 (5) <$10 for taking and approving a bond and, if
2-23 necessary, returning the bond to the courthouse;>
2-24 <(6)> $5 for commitment or release;
2-25 (6) <(7)> $5 for summoning a jury, if a jury is
2-26 summoned; and
2-27 (7) <(8)> $8 for each day's attendance of a prisoner
3-1 in a habeas corpus case if the prisoner has been remanded to
3-2 custody or held to bail.
3-3 SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
3-4 only to the release on bond of a defendant arrested for an offense
3-5 committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For purposes
3-6 of this section, an offense is committed before the effective date
3-7 of this Act if any element of the offense occurs before that date.
3-8 (b) A defendant arrested for an offense committed before the
3-9 effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the
3-10 offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect
3-11 for that purpose.
3-12 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-17 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-18 passage, and it is so enacted.