By Solomons, Crownover, Denny                           H.B. No. 74
         76R492 GWK-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the reimbursement of a county by a misdemeanant for
 1-3     certain expenses incurred by the county.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
 1-6     amended by adding Article 42.038 to read as follows:
 1-7           Art. 42.038.  REIMBURSEMENT FOR CONFINEMENT EXPENSES.  (a)
 1-8     In addition to any fine, cost, or fee authorized by law, a court
 1-9     that sentences a defendant convicted of a misdemeanor to serve a
1-10     term of confinement in county jail and orders execution of the
1-11     sentence may require the defendant to reimburse the county for the
1-12     defendant's confinement based on the lesser of:
1-13                 (1)  the average daily cost of confining a defendant in
1-14     the county jail, as determined by the commissioners court of the
1-15     county; or
1-16                 (2)  $25 a day.
1-17           (b)  A court that requires a defendant convicted of a
1-18     misdemeanor or placed on deferred adjudication for a misdemeanor to
1-19     submit to a period of confinement in county jail as a condition of
1-20     community supervision may also require as a condition of community
1-21     supervision that the defendant reimburse the county for the
1-22     defendant's confinement, with the amount of reimbursement
1-23     determined as if the defendant were serving an executed sentence.
1-24           (c)  A court that requires reimbursement under this article
 2-1     may require the defendant to reimburse the county only for those
 2-2     days the defendant is confined after the date of conviction or on
 2-3     which a plea of guilty or nolo contendere was entered.  The court
 2-4     may not require a defendant to reimburse the county for those days
 2-5     the defendant was confined after arrest and before the date of
 2-6     conviction or on which the plea of guilty or nolo contendere was
 2-7     entered.
 2-8           (d)  The court, in determining whether to order reimbursement
 2-9     under this article, shall consider:
2-10                 (1)  the defendant's employment status, earning
2-11     ability, and financial resources; and
2-12                 (2)  any other special circumstances that may affect
2-13     the defendant's ability to pay, including any financial
2-14     responsibilities owed by the defendant to dependents.
2-15           (e)  On the day on which a defendant who is required to
2-16     reimburse the county under this article discharges an executed
2-17     sentence of confinement or completes the period of confinement
2-18     required as a condition of community supervision, the sheriff shall
2-19     present to the defendant a bill computed by multiplying the daily
2-20     rate provided by Subsection (a) times the number of days the
2-21     defendant was confined in the county jail, not counting the day on
2-22     which the execution of the sentence or the period of confinement
2-23     began.  For purposes of this subsection, a defendant who is
2-24     confined in county jail for only a portion of a day is nonetheless
2-25     considered to have been confined for the whole day.
2-26           (f)  The court may require a defendant to reimburse the
2-27     county under this article by paying to the sheriff the bill
 3-1     presented by the sheriff within a specified period or in specified
 3-2     installments.  The end of the period or the last installment may
 3-3     not be later than:
 3-4                 (1)  the end of the period of community supervision, if
 3-5     community supervision is ordered; or
 3-6                 (2)  the fifth anniversary of the last day of the term
 3-7     of confinement, if the court does not order community supervision.
 3-8           SECTION 2.  Section 2(b), Article 42.22, Code of Criminal
 3-9     Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
3-10           (b)  The state also has a restitution lien to secure the:
3-11                 (1)  amount of fines or costs entered against a
3-12     defendant in the judgment in a felony criminal case; and
3-13                 (2)  amount of reimbursement for costs of confinement
3-14     ordered under Article 42.038.
3-15           SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
3-16     only to reimbursement for a day on or after the effective date of
3-17     this Act during which a defendant is confined in county jail.
3-18           (b)  Reimbursement for a day before the effective date of
3-19     this Act during which the defendant is confined in county jail is
3-20     covered by the law in effect on the day of confinement, and the
3-21     former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-22           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-23           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-24     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-25     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-26     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-27     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.