By Turner of Coleman H.B. No. 888
75R3582 JMC-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the imposition of a cost of court on criminal
1-3 convictions and the creation of a fund for the payment of
1-4 extraordinary costs of prosecution in certain counties.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Chapter 102, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-7 amended by adding Subchapter E to read as follows:
1-8 SUBCHAPTER E. COURT COSTS FOR EXTRAORDINARY COSTS OF
1-9 PROSECUTION FUND
1-10 Art. 102.091. COSTS. (a) A defendant convicted of a felony
1-11 shall pay as a cost of court $5.
1-12 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a defendant
1-13 convicted of a misdemeanor shall pay as a cost of court $1.
1-14 (c) This article does not apply to a defendant convicted
1-15 under Subtitle C, Title 7, Transportation Code, if the person is
1-16 convicted under a section regulating pedestrians and the parking of
1-17 motor vehicles.
1-18 (d) The clerk of the court shall collect the cost at the
1-19 time of sentencing, unless the defendant files a motion for new
1-20 trial or files an appeal, in which event the clerk of the court
1-21 shall collect the cost when the conviction is final.
1-22 (e) The court may waive the cost imposed under this article
1-23 if the court determines that the defendant is indigent.
1-24 Art. 102.092. RECORD OF COLLECTION. A clerk of the court
2-1 collecting costs due under this subchapter shall keep separate
2-2 records of the funds collected as costs under this subchapter and
2-3 shall deposit the funds in the county treasury.
2-4 Art. 102.093. REPORTS REQUIRED. (a) A clerk of the court
2-5 collecting funds due as costs under this subchapter shall file the
2-6 report required under Article 103.005.
2-7 (b) If no funds due as costs under this subchapter have been
2-8 collected in any quarter, the report required for each quarter
2-9 shall be filed in the regular manner, and the report shall state
2-10 that no funds due under this subchapter were collected.
2-11 Art. 102.094. TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO COMPTROLLER. (a) The
2-12 custodian of the county treasury may deposit the funds collected
2-13 under this subchapter in an interest-bearing account. The
2-14 custodian shall keep records of the amount of funds collected under
2-15 this subchapter that are on deposit with the custodian and shall on
2-16 or before the last day of the month following each calendar quarter
2-17 period of three months remit to the comptroller of public accounts
2-18 funds collected under this subchapter during the preceding quarter.
2-19 (b) A county treasury may retain 10 percent of each cost
2-20 collected under this subchapter as a service fee for the collection
2-21 and may also retain all interest accrued on the funds if the
2-22 custodian of the treasury keeps records of the amount of funds
2-23 collected under this subchapter that are on deposit with the
2-24 treasury and remits the funds to the comptroller within the period
2-25 prescribed in Subsection (a).
2-26 Art. 102.095. EXTRAORDINARY COSTS OF PROSECUTION FUND.
2-27 (a) The comptroller of public accounts shall deposit money
3-1 received by the comptroller under this subchapter in an account in
3-2 the general revenue fund to be known as the extraordinary costs of
3-3 prosecution fund. The legislature shall appropriate money from the
3-4 fund only to the criminal justice division of the governor's
3-5 office. The division shall distribute money received under this
3-6 subsection as provided by this article.
3-7 (b) A county with a population of less than 30,000 is
3-8 eligible to apply to the division for a distribution of money under
3-9 this article if, during the preceding fiscal year:
3-10 (1) the total amount of expenditures of the county
3-11 exceeded the total amount of funds received by the county from all
3-12 sources and the county incurred expenses for the investigation or
3-13 prosecution of an offense under Section 19.03, Penal Code; or
3-14 (2) the total amount of funds received by the county
3-15 from all sources exceeded the total amount of expenditures of the
3-16 county and the county incurred expenses for the investigation or
3-17 prosecution of an offense under Section 19.03, Penal Code, that
3-18 exceed five percent of the amount of that excess.
3-19 (c) The commissioners court must submit with an application
3-20 under Subsection (b) a financial statement of the county that shows
3-21 for the fiscal year for which application is made:
3-22 (1) the total amount of funds received by the county
3-23 from all sources;
3-24 (2) the total amount of expenditures of the county;
3-25 and
3-26 (3) the total amount of expenses incurred by the
3-27 county for the investigation or prosecution of an offense under
4-1 Section 19.03, Penal Code.
4-2 (d) The division may distribute money under this article
4-3 only to an eligible county for the reimbursement of expenses
4-4 incurred by the county during the fiscal year for which application
4-5 is made for the investigation or prosecution of an offense under
4-6 Section 19.03, Penal Code. The amount of the reimbursement to a
4-7 county eligible under Subsection (b)(2) may not exceed an amount
4-8 equal to five percent of the difference between the total amount of
4-9 funds received by the county and the total amount of expenditures
4-10 of the county during the fiscal year for which application is made.
4-11 (e) The division may adopt a budget and rules for the
4-12 distribution of money under this article.
4-13 Art. 102.096. AUDIT. All money collected under this
4-14 subchapter is subject to audit by the comptroller. All money
4-15 distributed to a county under this subchapter and its expenditure
4-16 by the county are subject to audit by the state auditor.
4-17 SECTION 2. (a) The imposition of a cost of court as
4-18 authorized by Article 102.091, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added
4-19 by this Act, applies only to a defendant convicted of an offense
4-20 committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For purposes
4-21 of this subsection, an offense is committed before the effective
4-22 date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs before the
4-23 effective date. A defendant convicted of an offense committed
4-24 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
4-25 effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
4-26 continued in effect for that purpose.
4-27 (b) The commissioners court of a county may apply to the
5-1 criminal justice division of the governor's office for a
5-2 distribution of money, as provided by Article 102.095, Code of
5-3 Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, on or after January 1,
5-4 1998.
5-5 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
5-6 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.