LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session
  
                              March 2, 1999
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Tom Ramsay, Chair, House Committee on County
               Affairs
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB 74  by Solomons (Relating to the reimbursement of a
               county by a misdemeanant for certain expenses incurred by
               the county.), As Introduced
  
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*  No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.                    *
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Local Government Impact
  
Allowing a county to order a defendant convicted of a misdemeanor to
reimburse the county for costs of post-judgement confinement at a maximum
$25 per day could result in additional revenues to counties. The amount
of revenue would depend on: the average daily cost of confining a
defendant, as determined by the commissioners court; the number of
defendants ordered to reimburse a county for costs of confinement; and
the collection rate for such costs. Revenues would be offset to some
extent by additional administrative expense related to billing and
collections and additional confinement costs for those inmates choosing
to pay their costs of confinement by remaining in jail and earning credit
for each additional day beyond the initial sentence.

Four counties provided fiscal impact estimates for the bill:

*Bexar County estimates additional net revenue of $887,038 per year,
based on additional revenues of $1,045,112 and additional costs of
$158,084.

*Denton County estimates additional net revenue of $191,281 per year,
based on additional revenues of $221,281 and additional costs of $30,000.

*Harris County estimates additional net revenue of approximately $500,000
per year, based on  potential annual recovery of $1,300,000 and
additional costs and uncollectible revenue of $800,000.

*Victoria County estimates that the county would not expect to receive
significant additional revenues as a result of the bill's passage, since
the cost to implement the provisions of the bill could actually be more
than revenues collected.
  
  
Source Agencies:   
LBB Staff:         JK, TL