1-1     By:  Ellis                                            S.C.R. No. 12
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 22, 1999; January 27, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
 1-4     February 24, 1999, reported favorably, as amended, by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; February 24, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                                By:  Ellis
 1-7           Amend S.C.R. 12, on page 1, line 43, by striking "March 1,
 1-8     1999" and substituting "January 1, 2001".
 1-9                        SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1-10           WHEREAS, The statewide collection rate for fines, fees, and
1-11     court costs imposed on criminal defendants is unacceptably low as
1-12     shown by a 1996 survey by the Office of Court Administration of the
1-13     Texas Judicial System that found a county-level court collection
1-14     rate of 61 percent, for an average loss of $412,000 in uncollected
1-15     fines, and a district court collection rate of just 26 percent, for
1-16     an average loss of $570,000; and
1-17           WHEREAS, Several Texas counties currently use a variety of
1-18     methods to increase their rate of collection, such as collecting 50
1-19     percent of the fees and fines within the first 48 hours,
1-20     determining defendants' ability to pay, and accepting personal
1-21     property or community service as repayment options; and
1-22           WHEREAS, In other jurisdictions, particularly in smaller
1-23     counties and cities with limited resources, collection efforts have
1-24     been hampered by a number of factors, including an increase in the
1-25     number of fees and a fee structure that is too complicated; and
1-26           WHEREAS, A simplification of the fee collection process would
1-27     enable smaller jurisdictions to use a lesser share of their limited
1-28     resources in identifying, collecting, and remitting fees; and
1-29           WHEREAS, Courts also could increase their efficiency in
1-30     collections through other measures such as on-site training,
1-31     manuals, software, and toll-free assistance lines if such means
1-32     were to be made available to them; and
1-33           WHEREAS, Because court orders are effectively broken when the
1-34     fines, fees, and court costs that have been imposed on defendants
1-35     by the courts remain uncollected, it is imperative that the courts'
1-36     unacceptably low collection rates be improved; now, therefore, be
1-37     it
1-38           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
1-39     hereby direct the comptroller of public accounts to develop
1-40     strategies for increasing the efficiency and reducing the
1-41     complexity of fee collection and dispersal by county and municipal
1-42     clerks and to submit recommendations to the legislature no later
1-43     than March 1, 1999; and, be it further
1-44           RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official
1-45     copy of this resolution to the comptroller of public accounts.
1-46                                  * * * * *