LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
  
                              March 12, 2001
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Senfronia Thompson, Chair, House Committee on
               Judicial Affairs
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB950  by Garcia (Relating to juror reimbursement.), As
               Introduced
  
**************************************************************************
*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
**************************************************************************
  
The bill would require the Office of Court Administration to submit a
juror reimbursement report to the legislature every four years.  The
bill would take effect September 1, 2001.
  
Local Government Impact
  
The bill would have a significant negative impact on local government.
The provisions of the bill would increase the minimum juror reimbursement
in district, county, and justice courts from $6 to $40 for each day
served as juror.  The bill would also add a new $10 civil fee for cases
filed in district courts, county courts, county courts at law, and
justice courts, and add a $10 court cost on criminal cases resulting in
convictions or deferred adjudication filed in the same courts.   The
additional civil fee and the court cost would be deposited into the
general revenue fund of each county for the juror reimbursement expenses.

The Office of Court Administration (OCA) reports that statewide in fiscal
year 2000, there were 993,253 criminal convictions and 729,835 civil
cases filed to which the $10 fee would apply had it been a requirement.
The revenue that would have been generated would have totaled almost
$13.8 million, allowing for a 65 percent fee collection rate in court
fees assessed to applicable misdemeanor or felony offenders.

OCA determined that the average amount paid to jurors statewide under
current law was $12 per day of jury service during fiscal year 2000.
Estimating the number of persons responding to a jury summons and paying
them for one day of service; estimating the number of petit jurors
selected and paying them for a sample number of an additional two days
for a trial; and, estimating an average number of days for a grand jury
to convene and paying grand jurors selected for each day of service, the
OCA multiplied the difference between the current average of $12 per day
and the proposed minimum $40 per day ($28) times the number of jurors and
days, totaling what would have been an additional cost of $68.8 million
in fiscal year 2000.

The net additional cost to the local courts would have been $55 million.
Based on the same figures remaining steady for the next five years, the
first year of implementation of the provisions of the bill would result
in a statewide additional cost of $56.2 million above what it would be
under current law. The first year of implementation would see a higher
additional cost because there would be a 30-day delay in collecting fees.
Each of the next four years would result in a net additional cost of $55
million.

As an example of the impact on an individual county, the Comptroller of
Public Accounts contacted officials in Dallas County and in Brazos
County.  Dallas County estimated a net additional cost of $2.5 million
each year and Brazos County estimated a net additional cost of just
under $3,000 per year.  Brazos County did not factor in the collection
rate for fees assessed to applicable misdemeanor or felony offenders and
would, therefore, experience a higher additional cost than estimated.
  
  
Source Agencies:   212   Office of Court Administration, 304
                   Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff:         JK, TB, JN, DB