LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session April 10, 2001 TO: Honorable Royce West, Chair, Senate Committee on Jurisprudence FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: SB1778 by Lucio (Relating to the collection of costs in criminal cases), Committee Report 1st House, as amended ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** The bill would authorize a county commissioners court and a governing body of a municipality that enter into a contract with a public or private vendor to collect outstanding fines, fees, restitution, and other court-ordered debts or costs to add 30 percent on each debt or account receivable that is more than 60 days past due and has been referred to the public or private vendor for collection unless the defendant is found to be indigent, have insufficient resources or income, or is unable to pay all or part of the underlying fine or costs. Local Government Impact The provisions of the bill would result in additional revenue to the county or municipality that would help recover part of the costs of vendor fees for providing collection services. The fiscal impact would vary by political subdivision based on successful collection rates, amounts of debts outstanding for more than 60 days, and costs for contracting with a public or private vendor for conducting the collections. Source Agencies: LBB Staff: JK, DB, TB