LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
  
                               May 18, 2001
  
  
          TO:  Honorable James E. "Pete" Laney, Speaker of the House,
               House of Representatives
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB1287  by Thompson (relating to the establishment of
               drug court programs and to a study of drug court programs
               by the Criminal Justice Policy Council.), As Passed 2nd
               House
  
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*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
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The bill would authorize county commissioners courts to establish a drug
court program for certain offenders.  The program must include the 10 key
components defined by the Office of Justice Programs of the U.S.
Department of Justice. The Criminal Justice Division of the Office of the
Governor would have oversight authority over the operations, management,
and financial practices of the drug court programs established under the
provisions of the bill.  The Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the
House could also assign certain oversight functions to appropriate
legislative committees.  Additionally, a legislative committee could
request that the State Auditor's Office perform a management, operations,
or financial or accounting audit of the programs.

The bill would authorize the drug court program to collect a program fee
from the participants, not to exceed $1,000 and that could be paid on a
deferred payment schedule, as well as various other fees to help recover
the costs of the program, urinalysis testing, and counseling.

The Criminal Justice Policy Council (CJPC) would be required to conduct a
study on the effectiveness of the drug court program and submit a report
on their findings to the Speaker of the House, the Lieutenant Governor,
and various legislative committees by January 15, 2003.

Not later than September 1, 2002, the county commissioners court in a
county with a population exceeding 550,000 residents would be required to
establish a drug court program that complies with the provisions of the
statute.  If a drug court program developed under the auspices of the
proposed Chapter 469 of the Health and Safety Code does not have at least
100 participants in the first four months of operation, the program
would be ineligible to recieve state funds for a community supervision
and corrections department, and grants administered by the Criminal
Justice Division of the Governor's office.

The Act would take effect on September 1, 2001.  The section of the
proposed statute that would require a study and report by the CJPC would
expire on June 1, 2003.
  
Local Government Impact
  
There are three drug court programs already in existence in Texas, with
two counties planning to start a program in the next year. The programs
operate using grants from various sources and to a lesser degree, using
fees collected from program participants.  For fiscal year 2001, budgets
for the the existing facilities range from $312,630 to $526,011 and are
anticipated to increase over the next two fiscal years.  For example, the
budget in Montgomery County is expected to reach $347,000 in the next
biennium and the program in Jeffreson County is projected to reach
$693,750.

According to the Texas Drug Court Association (TDCA), the program
provides savings to other areas of the justice system, although the
savings do not totally offset the costs. TDCA indicates the savings are
realized by reduced up front jail time and that participants usually
remain in the drug court program 14 to 16 months, as opposed to the
alternative sentence of spending two years in a state jail facility or
five years on community supervision.

A county establishing and operating a drug court program could expect to
incur costs starting around $300,000 annually.  Costs would vary
depending on the level of need for the program based on the potential
number of eligible participants.  Those costs would be offset to some
degree by fees collected from participants, fees collected from
offenders on community supervision for drug or alcohol related offenses,
and grants.
  
  
Source Agencies:   308   State Auditor's Office, 410   Criminal Justice
                   Policy Council, 301   Office of the Governor
LBB Staff:         JK, JC, TB, DB