By Armbrister S.B. No. 452
76R2884 JMC-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the imposition of a cost of court on criminal
1-3 convictions and the creation of a fund for the payment of
1-4 extraordinary costs of prosecution in certain counties.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Chapter 102, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-7 amended by adding Subchapter D to read as follows:
1-8 SUBCHAPTER D. COURT COSTS FOR EXTRAORDINARY COSTS OF
1-9 PROSECUTION FUND
1-10 Art. 102.081. COSTS. (a) A defendant convicted of a felony
1-11 shall pay as a cost of court $5.
1-12 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a defendant
1-13 convicted of a misdemeanor shall pay as a cost of court $1.
1-14 (c) This article does not apply to a defendant convicted:
1-15 (1) under Subtitle C, Title 7, Transportation Code, if
1-16 the person is convicted under a section regulating pedestrians and
1-17 the parking of motor vehicles; or
1-18 (2) of a misdemeanor in a municipal court or municipal
1-19 court of record.
1-20 (d) The clerk of the court shall collect the cost at the
1-21 time of sentencing, unless the defendant files a motion for new
1-22 trial or files an appeal, in which event the clerk of the court
1-23 shall collect the cost when the conviction is final.
1-24 (e) The court may waive the cost imposed under this article
2-1 if the court determines that the defendant is indigent.
2-2 Art. 102.082. RECORD OF COLLECTION. A clerk of the court
2-3 collecting costs due under this subchapter shall keep separate
2-4 records of the funds collected as costs under this subchapter and
2-5 shall deposit the funds in the county treasury.
2-6 Art. 102.083. REPORTS REQUIRED. (a) A clerk of the court
2-7 collecting funds due as costs under this subchapter shall file the
2-8 report required under Article 103.005.
2-9 (b) If no funds due as costs under this subchapter have been
2-10 collected in any quarter, the report required for each quarter
2-11 shall be filed in the regular manner, and the report shall state
2-12 that no funds due under this subchapter were collected.
2-13 Art. 102.084. TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO COMPTROLLER. (a) The
2-14 custodian of the county treasury may deposit the funds collected
2-15 under this subchapter in an interest-bearing account. The
2-16 custodian shall keep records of the amount of funds collected under
2-17 this subchapter that are on deposit with the custodian. On or
2-18 before the last day of the month following each calendar quarter
2-19 period of three months, the custodian shall remit to the
2-20 comptroller funds collected under this subchapter during the
2-21 preceding quarter.
2-22 (b) A county treasury may retain 10 percent of each cost
2-23 collected under this subchapter as a service fee for the collection
2-24 and may also retain all interest accrued on the funds if the
2-25 custodian of the treasury keeps records of the amount of funds
2-26 collected under this subchapter that are on deposit with the
2-27 treasury and remits the funds to the comptroller within the period
3-1 prescribed in Subsection (a).
3-2 Art. 102.085. EXTRAORDINARY COSTS OF PROSECUTION FUND.
3-3 (a) The comptroller shall deposit money received by the
3-4 comptroller under this subchapter in an account in the general
3-5 revenue fund to be known as the extraordinary costs of prosecution
3-6 fund. The legislature shall appropriate money from the fund only
3-7 to the criminal justice division of the governor's office. The
3-8 division shall distribute money received under this subsection as
3-9 provided by this article.
3-10 (b) A county with a population of less than 50,000 is
3-11 eligible to apply to the division for a distribution of money under
3-12 this article if, during the preceding fiscal year:
3-13 (1) the total amount of expenditures of the county
3-14 exceeded the total amount of funds received by the county from all
3-15 sources and the county incurred expenses for the investigation or
3-16 prosecution of an offense under Section 19.03, Penal Code; or
3-17 (2) the total amount of funds received by the county
3-18 from all sources exceeded the total amount of expenditures of the
3-19 county and the county incurred expenses for the investigation or
3-20 prosecution of an offense under Section 19.03, Penal Code, that
3-21 exceed five percent of the amount of that excess.
3-22 (c) The commissioners court must submit with an application
3-23 under Subsection (b) a financial statement of the county that shows
3-24 for the fiscal year for which application is made:
3-25 (1) the total amount of funds received by the county
3-26 from all sources;
3-27 (2) the total amount of expenditures of the county;
4-1 and
4-2 (3) the total amount of expenses incurred by the
4-3 county for the investigation or prosecution of an offense under
4-4 Section 19.03, Penal Code.
4-5 (d) The division may distribute money under this article
4-6 only to an eligible county for the reimbursement of expenses
4-7 incurred by the county during the fiscal year for which application
4-8 is made for the investigation or prosecution of an offense under
4-9 Section 19.03, Penal Code. The amount of the reimbursement to a
4-10 county eligible under Subsection (b)(2) may not exceed an amount
4-11 equal to five percent of the difference between the total amount of
4-12 funds received by the county and the total amount of expenditures
4-13 of the county during the fiscal year for which application is made.
4-14 (e) The division may adopt a budget and rules for the
4-15 distribution of money under this article.
4-16 Art. 102.086. AUDIT. All money collected under this
4-17 subchapter is subject to audit by the comptroller. All money
4-18 distributed to a county under this subchapter and its expenditure
4-19 by the county are subject to audit by the state auditor.
4-20 SECTION 2. (a) The imposition of a cost of court as
4-21 authorized by Article 102.081, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added
4-22 by this Act, applies only to a defendant convicted of an offense
4-23 committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For purposes
4-24 of this subsection, an offense is committed before the effective
4-25 date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs before the
4-26 effective date. A defendant convicted of an offense committed
4-27 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
5-1 effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
5-2 continued in effect for that purpose.
5-3 (b) The commissioners court of a county may apply to the
5-4 criminal justice division of the governor's office for a
5-5 distribution of money, as provided by Article 102.085, Code of
5-6 Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, on or after January 1,
5-7 2000.
5-8 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-9 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.