LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session April 5, 2001 TO: Honorable Senfronia Thompson, Chair, House Committee on Judicial Affairs FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB2645 by Capelo (Relating to the imposition of costs on certain convictions to pay for expenses related to jury sequestration.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** The bill would impose an additional local court cost fee of $2.50 on felony offenses and an additional local court cost fee of $1.25 on misdemeanor offenses. The additional fee would be called a jury sequestration fee and would be deposited with the county treasurer to be used only to defray the costs associated with sequestering a jury in a criminal case. This bill would take effect September 1, 2001. Local Government Impact Under current law, there is no court cost associated with the generation of local revenue to offset the cost of sequestering a jury. The Bexar County Auditor estimated that under the proposed provisions they would collect approximately $6,000 on felony cases and $30,000 on misdemeanor cases over a 12-month period. The auditor indicated jurors are only sequestered for felony cases. The Lubbock County Auditor's Office reported approximately $1,500 is spent each year for juror sequestration expenses. The Polk County Auditor stated Polk county has only had to sequester a jury once. Based on the proposed new local fees, the county would generate approximately $12,000 to $15,000 annually. The Hidalgo County Auditor estimated the county would collect approximately $30,000 in juror sequestration fees over a 12-month period under the provisions of the bill. He indicated they would break even since their juror sequestration costs are approximately the same. The impact to counties would vary depending on the number of offenses in the county and the number of juries sequestered. Source Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, TB, DB