LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session
  
                              April 16, 1999
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Senfronia Thompson, Chair, House Committee on
               Judicial Affairs
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB1623  by Goodman (Relating to the creation of a
               municipal court technology fund.), As Introduced
  
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*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
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Local Government Impact
  
The bill would allow a municipality to assess a technology fee of $10 as
a cost of court to defendants convicted of misdemeanor offenses in a
municipal court or a municipal court of record. The proceeds of the fee
would be deposited into a fund known as the Municipal Court Technology
Fund and could be used only to finance the purchase of technological
enhancements for a municipal court of record.

The following municipalities provided estimates of the potential revenue
the technology fee could generate on an annual basis, based on the number
of convictions in the most recent fiscal year for which data was
available:

Austin                    $1,898,920
Denton                  $   290,000
Farmers Branch     $   240,000
Galveston        $   341,070
Grand Prairie  $   224,460
Lubbock                $   500,000
Pampa         $     43,500
San Antonio  $1,250,000



Other municipalities could expect to receive similar revenues, depending
on the number of misdemeanor convictions per year.
  
  
Source Agencies:   212   Office of Court Administration, 304
                   Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff:         JK, PE, TL