By Wilson                                              H.B. No. 183

      75R1927 SAW-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to donations to state agencies by court-appointed

 1-3     attorneys.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subtitle G, Title 2, Government Code, is amended

 1-6     by adding Chapter 84 to read as follows:

 1-7                      CHAPTER 84.  DONATION BY ATTORNEY

 1-8           Sec. 84.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:

 1-9                 (1)  "Court-appointed attorney" means an attorney

1-10     appointed by a court to represent a person and includes an attorney

1-11     appointed ad litem.

1-12                 (2)  "Donation" means a gift, grant, payment, devise,

1-13     bequest, or funding of money.

1-14                 (3)  "State agency" means a board, commission,

1-15     department, office, or other agency that:

1-16                       (A)  is in a branch of state government;

1-17                       (B)  was created by the constitution or a statute

1-18     of this state; and

1-19                       (C)  has statewide jurisdiction.

1-20           Sec. 84.002.  ATTORNEY DONATION TO AGENCY.  (a)  A state

1-21     agency may accept a donation made by a court-appointed attorney

1-22     under this chapter.

1-23           (b)  A court-appointed attorney may donate to the state

1-24     agency of the attorney's choice a fee generated by an appointment.

 2-1           (c)  The supreme court by rule shall provide a payment waiver

 2-2     system that authorizes a court-appointed attorney to donate to a

 2-3     state agency the fee generated by an appointment.

 2-4           Sec. 84.003.  FEE TRANSFER.  (a)  The custodian of the county

 2-5     treasury  shall keep a record of the amount of the fees collected

 2-6     under Section 84.002 and, on or before the last day of the month

 2-7     following each calendar quarter, send to the comptroller the fees

 2-8     collected under Section 84.002 in the preceding quarter.  The

 2-9     custodian of the county treasury may retain 10 percent of the fees

2-10     collected under Section 84.002 and the interest as a service fee if

2-11     the custodian of the treasury keeps records of the amount of fees

2-12     on deposit collected under Section 84.002 and sends the funds to

2-13     the comptroller within the period prescribed by this section.

2-14           (b)  The comptroller shall deposit a fee received under this

2-15     section to the credit of the fund or account specified by the

2-16     agency designated by the donor attorney under Section 84.002(b).

2-17     Money received under this section may be appropriated only to the

2-18     agency designated by the attorney donating the money.  Money

2-19     received under this section is supplementary and is not income for

2-20     purposes of reducing general revenue appropriations in the General

2-21     Appropriations Act to the agency that received the donation.

2-22           SECTION 2.  The supreme court shall adopt the rules required

2-23     by Section 84.002(c), Government Code, as added by this Act, not

2-24     later than January 1, 1998.

2-25           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-26     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-27     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-1     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-2     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.