1-1     By:  Zbranek (Senate Sponsor - Staples)               H.B. No. 1955
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2001;
 1-3     May 7, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
 1-4     Justice; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the discharge from jail of a misdemeanant who is jailed
 1-9     to satisfy fines and costs.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Article 45.048, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-12     amended to read as follows:
1-13           Art. 45.048.  DISCHARGED FROM JAIL.  (a)  A defendant placed
1-14     in jail on account of failure to pay the fine and costs shall be
1-15     discharged on habeas corpus by showing that the defendant:
1-16                 (1)  is too poor to pay the fine and costs; or
1-17                 (2)  has remained in jail a sufficient length of time
1-18     to satisfy the fine and costs, at the rate of not less than $100
1-19     for each period of time [day or part of a day of jail time] served,
1-20     as specified by the convicting court in the judgment in the case.
1-21           (b)  A convicting court may specify a period of time that is
1-22     not less than eight hours or more than 24 hours as the period for
1-23     which a defendant who fails to pay the fines and costs in the case
1-24     must remain in jail to satisfy $100 of the fine and costs.
1-25           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
1-26     only to a defendant serving a sentence for an offense committed on
1-27     or after the effective date of this Act.  For purposes of this
1-28     section, an offense is committed before the effective date of this
1-29     Act if any element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
1-30           (b)  A defendant serving a sentence for an offense committed
1-31     before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
1-32     effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
1-33     continued in effect for that purpose.
1-34           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-35                                  * * * * *