By Cuellar                                              H.B. No. 49
         76R223 PEP-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to an inmate's liability for the inmate's cost of
 1-3     confinement in a county jail or the institutional division.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 501.0171 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 501.0171.  INMATE'S LIABILITY FOR COST OF CONFINEMENT.
 1-8     (a)  An inmate of the institutional division is liable for the cost
 1-9     of the inmate's confinement in the division, including the cost of
1-10     food, housing, and any program in which the inmate participates.
1-11           (b)  By agreement with the institutional division, an inmate
1-12     may pay for all or part of the inmate's cost of confinement by
1-13     performing community service or work after release from the
1-14     division.
1-15           (c)  The institutional division may waive an inmate's
1-16     liability for the cost of confinement if the division determines
1-17     that it is in the best interest of the inmate and of the public.
1-18           (d)  The board shall adopt rules necessary to implement this
1-19     section.
1-20           SECTION 2.  Section 104.002, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-21     amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
1-22           (e)  A county shall require an inmate of a county jail to pay
1-23     for the cost of the inmate's confinement in the jail, including the
1-24     cost of food, housing, and any program in which the inmate
 2-1     participates.  By agreement with the county, an inmate may pay for
 2-2     all or part of the inmate's cost of confinement by performing
 2-3     community service or work after release from the jail.  The county
 2-4     may waive an inmate's liability for the cost of confinement if the
 2-5     county determines that it is in the best interest of the inmate and
 2-6     of the public.  The commissioners court shall adopt rules necessary
 2-7     to implement this subsection.
 2-8           SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
 2-9     only to an inmate who is confined in the institutional division or
2-10     a county jail for an offense committed on or after the effective
2-11     date of this Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is
2-12     committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of
2-13     the offense occurs before the effective date.
2-14           (b)  An inmate who is confined in the institutional division
2-15     or a county jail for an offense committed before the effective date
2-16     of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was
2-17     committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
2-18     purpose.
2-19           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-20           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-21     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-22     emergency   and   an   imperative   public   necessity   that   the
2-23     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-24     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.