LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE
75th Regular Session
May 31, 1997
TO: Honorable Bob Bullock Honorable James E. "Pete" Laney
Lieutenant Governor Speaker of the House
Senate
Austin, Texas
FROM: John Keel, Director
In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on HB2272 ( relating
to certain court costs a person convicted of certain offenses
is required to pay and to the establishment of the fugitive
apprehension account; making appropriations.) this office has
detemined the following:
Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by HB2272-Conference Committee Report
Implementing the provisions of the bill would result in a
net impact of $0 to General Revenue Related Funds through the
biennium ending August 31, 1999.
Appropriations:
The bill would appropriate the following amounts:
Fiscal Year Appropriation
out of New
- GR
Dedicated
Fugitive
Apprehension
Account
NEW-DED
1998 $10,398,038
1999 15,648,833
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would add court costs for special services to the Code
of Criminal Procedure, specifying amounts, collection/remittance
procedures, and allocations to be made by the Comptroller. If
legislation establishing a Center for the Study and Prevention
of Juvenile Crime and Delinquency at Prairie View A&M University
is enacted, each fee imposed for special services would increase
by 25 cents.
In addition, a new five dollar court fee would
be imposed on persons convicted of a felony or misdemeanor,
including criminal violations of municipal ordinances, but excluding
parking and pedestrian violations. Each quarter, custodians
of county or municipal treasuries would be required to report
and remit funds collected. Funds would be deposited into a
new general revenue dedicated account, the Fugitive Apprehension
Account, from which the legislature could appropriate funds
to defer costs of apprehending certain fugitives and pay costs
of incarceration. Local units of government could retain 10
percent of funds collected.
Methodolgy
Records from the Office of Court Administration and Comptroller
were used to determine the number of convictions on which the
five dollar fee would be charged. Adjustments were made to
account for uncollectible fees, and to reflect the lag in collections
due to quarterly reporting in fiscal year 1998.
No estimate
is included of revenue generated by increased court costs for
special services; the amount is expected to be insignificant.
For the same reason, no estimate is included for the 25 cent
increase earmarked for the proposed study facility at Prairie
View A&M University.
The Department of Public Safety (DPS)
estimates costs for apprehending individuals targeted by the
bill would include staff (an additional 27 FTEs), equipment
and other operating expenses. As a result of expanded apprehension
efforts by DPS, estimated incarceration costs to the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice are included.
The probable fiscal implications of implementing the provisions
of the bill during each of the first five years following passage
are estimated as follows:
Five Year Impact:
Fiscal Year Probable Revenue Probable Change in Number
Gain/(Loss) from Savings/(Cost) of State
New - GR from New - GR Employees from
Dedicated Dedicated FY 1997
Fugitive Fugitive
Apprehension Apprehension
Account Account
NEW-DED NEW-DED
1998 $11,619,000 ($10,398,038) 27.0
1998 17,342,000 (15,648,833) 27.0
2000 17,342,000 (15,648,833) 27.0
2001 17,342,000 (15,648,833) 27.0
2002 17,342,000 (15,648,833) 27.0
Net Impact on General Revenue Related Funds:
The probable fiscal implication to General Revenue related funds
during each of the first five years is estimated as follows:
Fiscal Year Probable Net Postive/(Negative)
General Revenue Related Funds
Funds
1998 $0
1999 0
2000 0
2001 0
2002 0
Similar annual fiscal implications would continue as long as
the provisions of the bill are in effect.
Local county jails would incur additional incarceration costs,
but costs would vary due to factors such as jail operating costs
and locations where violators might be apprehended.
The
DPS estimates the bill could provide approximately $558,000
each year to local law enforcement agencies providing assistance
to the DPS fugitive apprehension unit. The Comptroller estimates
that local units of government would retain $1.3 million in
fiscal 1998 and $1.9 million in each fiscal year thereafter.
As a result, the net impact of the bill to local governments
is expected to be insignificant.
Source: Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts
405 Department of Public Safety
696 Department of Criminal Justice
LBB Staff: JK ,BB ,JN ,BP