By Solomons 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.