1-1     By:  Wentworth                                        S.B. No. 1276
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 11, 1999; March 11, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
 1-4     April 19, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 6,
 1-5     Nays 0; April 19, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to a misdemeanant's liability for the cost of confinement
 1-9     in a county jail.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-12     amended by adding Article 42.038 to read as follows:
1-13           Art. 42.038.  REIMBURSEMENT FOR CONFINEMENT EXPENSES.
1-14     (a)  In addition to any fine, cost, or fee authorized by law, a
1-15     court that sentences a defendant convicted of a misdemeanor to
1-16     serve a term of confinement in county jail and orders execution of
1-17     the sentence may require the defendant to reimburse the county for
1-18     the defendant's confinement at a rate of $30 a day.
1-19           (b)  A court that requires a defendant convicted of a
1-20     misdemeanor or placed on deferred adjudication for a misdemeanor to
1-21     submit to a period of confinement in county jail as a condition of
1-22     community supervision may also require as a condition of community
1-23     supervision that the defendant reimburse the county for the
1-24     defendant's confinement, with the amount of reimbursement
1-25     determined as if the defendant were serving an executed sentence.
1-26           (c)  A court that requires reimbursement under this article
1-27     may require the defendant to reimburse the county only for those
1-28     days the defendant is confined after the date of conviction or on
1-29     which a plea of guilty or nolo contendere was entered.  The court
1-30     may not require a defendant to reimburse the county for those days
1-31     the defendant was confined after arrest and before the date of
1-32     conviction or on which the plea of guilty or nolo contendere was
1-33     entered.
1-34           (d)  The court, in determining whether to order reimbursement
1-35     under this article, shall consider:
1-36                 (1)  the defendant's employment status, earning
1-37     ability, and financial resources; and
1-38                 (2)  any other special circumstances that may affect
1-39     the defendant's ability to pay, including any financial
1-40     responsibilities owed by the defendant to dependents or restitution
1-41     payments owed by the defendant to a victim.
1-42           (e)  On the day on which a defendant who is required to
1-43     reimburse the county under this article discharges an executed
1-44     sentence of confinement or completes the period of confinement
1-45     required as a condition of community supervision, the sheriff shall
1-46     present to the defendant a bill computed by multiplying the daily
1-47     rate of $30 times the number of days the defendant was confined in
1-48     the county jail, not counting the day on which the execution of the
1-49     sentence or the period of confinement began.  For purposes of this
1-50     subsection, a defendant who is confined in county jail for only a
1-51     portion of a day is nonetheless considered to have been confined
1-52     for the whole day.
1-53           (f)  The court may require a defendant to reimburse the
1-54     county under this article by paying to the sheriff the bill
1-55     presented by the sheriff within a specified period or in specified
1-56     installments.  The end of the period or the last installment may
1-57     not be later than:
1-58                 (1)  the end of the period of community supervision, if
1-59     community supervision is ordered; or
1-60                 (2)  the fifth anniversary of the last day of the term
1-61     of confinement, if the court does not order community supervision.
1-62           SECTION 2.  Subsection (b), Section 2, Article 42.22, Code of
1-63     Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-64           (b)  The state also has a restitution lien to secure the:
 2-1                 (1)  amount of fines or costs entered against a
 2-2     defendant in the judgment in a felony criminal case; and
 2-3                 (2)  amount of reimbursement for costs of confinement
 2-4     ordered under Article 42.038.
 2-5           SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
 2-6     only to reimbursement for a day on or after the effective date of
 2-7     this Act during which a defendant is confined in county jail.
 2-8           (b)  Reimbursement for a day before the effective date of
 2-9     this Act during which the defendant is confined in county jail is
2-10     covered by the law in effect on the day of confinement, and the
2-11     former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-12           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-13                                  * * * * *