1-1     By:  Oakley (Senate Sponsor - Brown)                  H.B. No. 2617

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 2, 1997;

 1-3     May 5, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on Finance;

 1-4     May 18, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 13,

 1-5     Nays 0; May 18, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to the assessment of certain court costs in criminal cases

 1-9     and the use of that revenue to fund the Bill Blackwood Law

1-10     Enforcement Management Institute.

1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-12           SECTION 1.  Section 415.082(a), Government Code, is amended

1-13     to read as follows:

1-14           (a)  A person convicted of a criminal offense shall pay as

1-15     court costs $4 [$3.50] in addition to other taxable court costs.

1-16     These additional court costs shall be collected in the same manner

1-17     that other fines or court costs in the case are collected.  Subject

1-18     to amounts retained under Section 415.083(d), the costs collected

1-19     under this subsection shall be deposited in the state treasury as

1-20     follows:

1-21                 (1)  $1 to the credit of the law enforcement officer

1-22     standards and education account for administrative expenses;

1-23                 (2)  $2 to the credit of the law enforcement officer

1-24     standards and education account for expenses related to the

1-25     continuing education of persons licensed under this chapter; and

1-26                 (3)  $1 [50 cents] to the credit of the Bill Blackwood

1-27     Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas fund established

1-28     under  Section 96.64 [96.64(l)], Education Code.

1-29           SECTION 2.  Section 96.64, Education Code, is amended by

1-30     adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:

1-31           (e)  The board of regents of the Texas State University

1-32     System may acquire, purchase, construct, improve, renovate,

1-33     enlarge, or equip property, buildings, structures, facilities,

1-34     roads, or related infrastructure for the institute to be financed

1-35     by the issuance of bonds in accordance with Subchapter B, Chapter

1-36     55.  The board of regents may pledge irrevocably to the payment of

1-37     those bonds a portion of the proceeds of the Bill Blackwood Law

1-38     Enforcement Management Institute of Texas fund.  The amount of a

1-39     pledge made under this subsection may not be reduced or abrogated

1-40     while the bonds for which the pledge is made, or bonds issued to

1-41     refund those bonds, are outstanding.

1-42           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-43           SECTION 4.  The change in law made by Section 1 of this Act

1-44     applies only to a conviction of a criminal offense that occurs on

1-45     or after the effective date of this Act.

1-46           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-47     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-48     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-49     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-50     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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