2003S0287-1 02/14/03


By:  West                                                         S.B. No. 600


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to compensation and expense reimbursement of appointed 
counsel in certain habeas corpus cases.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subsection (f), Section 2, Article 11.071, Code 
of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
	(f)  The convicting court shall reasonably compensate an 
attorney appointed under this section or previously appointed by 
the court of criminal appeals as provided by Section 2A.
	SECTION 2.  Subsections (a) and (d), Section 3, Article 
11.071, Code of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  On appointment by the court of criminal appeals or the 
convicting court, counsel shall investigate expeditiously, before 
and after the appellate record is filed in the court of criminal 
appeals, the factual and legal grounds for the filing of an 
application for a writ of habeas corpus.
	(d)  Counsel may incur expenses for habeas corpus 
investigation, including expenses for experts, without prior 
approval by the court of criminal appeals or the convicting court.  
On presentation of a claim for reimbursement, which may be 
presented ex parte, the convicting court shall order reimbursement 
of counsel for expenses, if the expenses are reasonably necessary 
and reasonably incurred.  If the court denies in whole or in part 
the request for expenses, the court shall briefly state the reasons 
for the denial in a written order provided to the applicant.  The 
applicant may request reconsideration of the denial for 
reimbursement by the convicting court.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies to an application for a writ of habeas corpus under Article 
11.071, Code of Criminal Procedure, then pending or filed on or 
after that date.