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.