1-1     By:  Patterson                                         S.B. No. 918

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 4, 1997; March 10, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Finance; May 6, 1997,

 1-4     reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the

 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 6, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 918                    By:  Lucio

 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-8                                   AN ACT

 1-9     relating to funding the costs of apprehending certain inmates for

1-10     whom warrants are issued by the Board of Pardons and Paroles or the

1-11     pardons and paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal

1-12     Justice.

1-13           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-14           SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Article 56.55, Code of Criminal

1-15     Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

1-16           (a)  A person shall pay:

1-17                 (1)  $50 [$45] as a court cost on conviction of a

1-18     felony;

1-19                 (2)  $40 [$35] as a court cost on conviction of a

1-20     violation of a municipal ordinance punishable by a fine of more

1-21     than $200 or on conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by

1-22     imprisonment or by a fine of more than $500; or

1-23                 (3)  $20 [$15] as a court cost on conviction of a

1-24     violation of a municipal ordinance punishable by a fine of not more

1-25     than $200 or on conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of

1-26     not more than $500, other than a conviction of a misdemeanor

1-27     offense or a violation of a municipal ordinance relating to

1-28     pedestrians and the parking of motor vehicles.

1-29           SECTION 2.  Article 56.57, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

1-30     amended to read as follows:

1-31           Art. 56.57.  DEPOSIT BY COMPTROLLER; AUDIT.  (a)  Except as

1-32     provided by Subsection (b), the [The] comptroller shall deposit the

1-33     funds received under Article 56.56 and all other moneys credited to

1-34     the fund by any other provision of law in the compensation to

1-35     victims of crime fund.

1-36           (b)  The comptroller shall deposit a portion of the funds

1-37     received under Article 56.55 to the credit of the fugitive

1-38     apprehension account in an amount equal to $5 for each payment made

1-39     under Article 56.55 by a defendant for a conviction, less a

1-40     percentage of that amount equal to the percentage retained by a

1-41     municipality or county under Article 56.56 as a collection fee.

1-42           (c)  Funds collected are subject to audit by the comptroller.

1-43     Funds spent are subject to audit by the state auditor.

1-44           SECTION 3.  Subchapter A, Chapter 411, Government Code, is

1-45     amended by adding Section 411.0097 to read as follows:

1-46           Sec. 411.0097.  FUGITIVE APPREHENSION ACCOUNT.  The fugitive

1-47     apprehension account is a special account in the general revenue

1-48     fund.  The legislature may appropriate funds in the account only

1-49     for the purpose of paying for the cost to the department of

1-50     apprehending individuals for whom warrants have been issued under

1-51     Section 13, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure.

1-52           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-53           SECTION 5.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act to

1-54     Article 56.55, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies to court costs

1-55     imposed  on a person convicted of an offense covered by that

1-56     article on or after September 1, 1997.

1-57           (b)  The change in law made by this Act to Article 56.57,

1-58     Code of Criminal Procedure, applies to funds received by the

1-59     comptroller of public accounts under that article on or after

1-60     October 1, 1997.

1-61           SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-62     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-63     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-64     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 2-1     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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