By Gallego                                       H.B. No. 789

      75R2970 JMC-F                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the imposition of a fee on certain criminal defendants

 1-3     to fund improvements in court technology and judicial

 1-4     administration.

 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-6           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 102, Code of Criminal

 1-7     Procedure, is amended by adding Article 102.019 to read as follows:

 1-8           Art. 102.019.  FEE FOR COLLECTING LATE OR PARTIAL PAYMENTS OF

 1-9     FINES.  (a)  A defendant punished by imposition of a fine on

1-10     conviction of an offense shall pay to the clerk of the court a fee

1-11     of $12 if the defendant:

1-12                 (1)  fails to timely pay the fine; or

1-13                 (2)  pays the fine in installments.

1-14           (b)  A judge may not waive a fee imposed under Subsection

1-15     (a).

1-16           (c)  The clerk of a municipal court shall deposit $6 of each

1-17     fee collected under Subsection (a) in the municipal treasury.  The

1-18     clerk of a justice court, county court, statutory county court, or

1-19     district court shall deposit $6 of each fee collected under

1-20     Subsection (a) in the county treasury.  The governing body of the

1-21     municipality or the commissioners court of the county may use the

1-22     funds deposited under this subsection only to maintain and improve

1-23     the collecting court's administration generally and to maintain and

1-24     improve the following operations of the court:

 2-1                 (1)  the collection of costs and fees;

 2-2                 (2)  the management of money collected and received;

 2-3                 (3)  court automation;

 2-4                 (4)  case processing; and

 2-5                 (5)  the implementation of information technology.

 2-6           (d)  The custodian of a municipal or county treasury shall

 2-7     keep a record of the amount of fees collected under Subsection (a)

 2-8     and shall, not later than the last day of the month following each

 2-9     calendar quarter, remit to the comptroller of public accounts $6 of

2-10     each fee collected under Subsection (a) during the preceding

2-11     quarter.  The comptroller shall deposit the funds received under

2-12     this subsection in a special account in the state treasury to be

2-13     known as the state court technology and judicial administration

2-14     fund.

2-15           (e)  The legislature may appropriate money from the state

2-16     court technology and judicial administration fund only to the

2-17     office of court administration to maintain and improve those

2-18     operations of a court that are listed in Subsections (c)(1)-(5) and

2-19     to maintain and improve the administration of justice generally.

2-20           (f)  Funds deposited in the state court technology and

2-21     judicial administration fund under Subsection (d) are subject to

2-22     audit by the comptroller.  Funds distributed by the office of court

2-23     administration under Subsection (e) are subject to audit by the

2-24     state auditor.

2-25           SECTION 2.  (a)  The imposition of a fee as authorized by

2-26     Article 102.019, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act,

2-27     applies only to a defendant convicted of an offense committed on or

 3-1     after the effective date of this Act.  For purposes of this

 3-2     section, an offense is committed before the effective date of this

 3-3     Act if any element of the offense occurs before the effective date.

 3-4           (b)  A defendant convicted of an offense committed before the

 3-5     effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the

 3-6     offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect

 3-7     for that purpose.

 3-8           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 3-9           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

3-10     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

3-11     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

3-12     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

3-13     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.