1-1     By:  Coleman (Senate Sponsor - Ellis)                 H.B. No. 1752
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 3, 1999;
 1-3     May 3, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 11, 1999, reported favorably, as amended, by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 11, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                                By:  Ellis
 1-7     Amend H.B. 1752, Section 2, Article 26.052, Code of Criminal
 1-8     Procedure, page 1, strike lines 29-30.
 1-9                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-10                                   AN ACT
1-11     relating to the compensation of certain private investigators and
1-12     witnesses who are retained by appointed counsel.
1-13           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14           SECTION 1.  Article 26.05, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-15     amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
1-16           (f)  Reimbursement of expenses incurred for purposes of
1-17     investigation or expert testimony may be paid directly to a private
1-18     investigator licensed under the Private Investigators and Private
1-19     Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
1-20     Statutes) or to an expert witness in the manner designated by
1-21     appointed counsel and approved by the court.
1-22           SECTION 2.   Article 26.052, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-23     amended by amending Subsections (g) and (l) to read as follows:
1-24           (g)  The court shall grant the request for advance payment of
1-25     expenses in whole or in part if the request is reasonable.  If the
1-26     court denies in whole or in part the request for expenses, the
1-27     court shall:
1-28                 (1)  state the reasons for the denial in writing,
1-29     including any ground on which the court relies for a determination
1-30     that the amount requested is unreasonable;
1-31                 (2)  attach the denial to the confidential request; and
1-32                 (3)  submit the request and denial as a sealed exhibit
1-33     to the record.
1-34           (l)  An attorney appointed under this article to represent a
1-35     defendant at trial or on direct appeal is compensated as provided
1-36     by Article 26.05 from county funds.  Advance payment of expenses
1-37     anticipated or reimbursement of expenses incurred for purposes of
1-38     investigation or expert testimony may be paid directly to a private
1-39     investigator licensed under the Private Investigators and Private
1-40     Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29bb), Vernon's Texas Civil
1-41     Statutes) or to an expert witness in the manner designated by
1-42     appointed counsel and approved by the court.
1-43           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-44           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-45     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-46     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-47     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-48     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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