1-1 By: Yarbrough (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 1553
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 9, 1997;
1-3 May 12, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Jurisprudence; May 18, 1997, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 5, Nays 1; May 18, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to court costs assessed for certain offenses to provide
1-9 funding for child safety programs.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Article 102.014, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-12 amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (e) to read as
1-13 follows:
1-14 (a) The governing body of a municipality with a population
1-15 of 950,000 or more [greater than 850,000] according to the most
1-16 recent federal decennial census that has adopted an ordinance,
1-17 regulation, or order regulating the stopping, standing, or parking
1-18 of vehicles as allowed by Section 542.202, Transportation Code
1-19 [Subsection (a), Section 27, Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on
1-20 Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)], or
1-21 Chapter 682, Transportation Code [Article 6701d-24, Revised
1-22 Statutes], shall by order assess a court cost on each parking
1-23 violation [not less than $2 and] not to exceed $10 [$5]. The court
1-24 costs under this subsection shall be collected in the same manner
1-25 that other fines in the case are collected.
1-26 (b) The governing body of a municipality with a population
1-27 less than 850,000 according to the most recent federal decennial
1-28 census that has adopted an ordinance, regulation, or order
1-29 regulating the stopping, standing, or parking of vehicles as
1-30 allowed by Section 542.202, Transportation Code [Subsection (a),
1-31 Section 27, Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article
1-32 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)], or Chapter 682,
1-33 Transportation Code [Article 6701d-24, Revised Statutes], may by
1-34 order assess a court cost on each parking violation not to exceed
1-35 $10 [$5]. The additional court cost under this subsection shall be
1-36 collected in the same manner that other fines in the case are
1-37 collected.
1-38 (c) A person convicted of an offense under Subtitle C, Title
1-39 7, Transportation Code [the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on
1-40 Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)], when the
1-41 offense occurs within a school crossing zone as defined by Section
1-42 541.302, Transportation Code [20L of that Act], shall pay as court
1-43 costs $25 [$20] in addition to other taxable court costs. A person
1-44 convicted of an offense under Section 545.066, Transportation Code
1-45 [104, Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d,
1-46 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)], shall pay as court costs $25 [$20]
1-47 in addition to other taxable court costs. A person convicted of an
1-48 offense under Section 25.093 [4.25], Education Code, or a child
1-49 convicted of an offense under Section 25.094, Education Code, shall
1-50 pay as taxable court costs $20 in addition to other taxable court
1-51 costs. The additional court costs under this subsection shall be
1-52 collected in the same manner that other fines and taxable court
1-53 costs in the case are collected.
1-54 (e) In a municipality with a population of [greater than]
1-55 850,000 or more according to the most recent federal decennial
1-56 census, the officer collecting the costs in a municipal court case
1-57 shall deposit money collected under this article in the municipal
1-58 child safety trust fund established as required by Chapter 106,
1-59 Local Government Code.
1-60 SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
1-61 only to a violation or an offense committed on or after the
1-62 effective date of this Act. For purposes of this section, a
1-63 violation or an offense is committed before the effective date of
1-64 this Act if any element of the violation or offense occurs before
2-1 that date.
2-2 (b) A violation or an offense committed before the effective
2-3 date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the violation
2-4 or offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect
2-5 for that purpose.
2-6 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
2-7 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-12 * * * * *