By Whitmire                                           S.B. No. 1538
         77R7824 GWK-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to costs on conviction to fund compensation to victims of
 1-3     crime.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Article 56.55, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
 1-6     amended by amending Subsections (a)  and (c) and by adding
 1-7     Subsection (e) to read as follows:
 1-8           (a)  A person shall pay:
 1-9                 (1)  $45 as a court cost on conviction of a felony that
1-10     constitutes criminally injurious conduct; and
1-11                 (2)  $35 as a court cost on conviction of a [violation
1-12     of a municipal ordinance punishable by a fine of more than $200 or
1-13     on conviction of a] misdemeanor that constitutes criminally
1-14     injurious conduct and is  punishable by confinement [imprisonment
1-15     or by a fine of more than $500; or]
1-16                 [(3)  $15 as a court cost on conviction of a violation
1-17     of a municipal ordinance punishable by a fine of not more than $200
1-18     or on conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more
1-19     than $500, other than a conviction of a misdemeanor offense or a
1-20     violation of a municipal ordinance relating to pedestrians and the
1-21     parking of motor vehicles].
1-22           (c)  In this article, a person is considered to have been
1-23     convicted if:
1-24                 (1)  a sentence is imposed; or
 2-1                 (2)  the defendant receives community supervision
 2-2     [probation] or deferred adjudication[; or]
 2-3                 [(3)  the court defers final disposition of the case].
 2-4           (e)  Not later than October 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
 2-5     attorney general shall provide to each court authorized to impose
 2-6     costs under this article a list of offenses each of which the
 2-7     attorney general determines constitute criminally injurious
 2-8     conduct.
 2-9           SECTION 2. Not later than October 1, 2001, the attorney
2-10     general shall provide the first list of offenses constituting
2-11     criminally injurious conduct to courts, as required by Article
2-12     56.55(e), Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act.
2-13           SECTION 3. (a)  The change in law made by this Act to
2-14     Articles 56.55(a) and (c), Code of Criminal Procedure, apply only
2-15     to a defendant convicted of an offense committed on or after
2-16     October 1, 2001.  For purposes of this section, an offense is
2-17     committed before October 1, 2001, if any element of the offense
2-18     occurs before that date.
2-19           (b)  A defendant convicted of an offense committed before
2-20     October 1, 2001, is covered by the law in effect immediately before
2-21     the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
2-22     effect for that purpose.
2-23           SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.