LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session March 5, 1999 TO: Honorable Ken Armbrister, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: SB205 by Carona (Relating to the fee associated with the installation or the monitoring of a motor vehicle ignition interlock device required as a condition of bail.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would require a defendant charged with a subsequent offense of driving while intoxicated to pay a $10 fee to an agency designated by the magistrate to verify the installation of a breath alcohol ignition interlock device. The bill would also require the defendant to pay a $10 fee each time the agency monitors the weekly reports submitted by the vendor that installed the device. Methodology It was determined that "agency" in this bill refers to a county Community Support and Corrections Department (CSCD), a pre-trial services division or a county sheriff. There are approximately 8,000 breath alcohol ignition interlock devices leased or sold in Texas each year. This number is an estimate based on information obtained from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and five Department of Public Safety (DPS) licensed vendors in Texas. Fiscal Impact The bill would result in a revenue gain to most counties. The precise amount of the revenue gain would vary by county and would depend on the number of defendants charged with a subsequent offense of driving while intoxicated and the frequency of the monitoring performed by agencies. If all defendants were to pay the $10 fee for weekly monitoring, the total revenue to all counties would be about $4.2 million per year. Designated agencies usually meet with defendants and collect fees on a monthly basis. Collection of another fee would incur no additional local administrative cost. Source Agencies: LBB Staff: JK, MD