By:  Staples                                                      S.B. No. 727


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the payment of fees awarded to certain attorneys 
appointed by a court to represent indigent inmates in capital 
cases.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 403.074, Government Code, is amended by 
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (h) to read as 
follows:
	(d)  Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (g) and
(h), the comptroller may not pay under this section a single claim 
in excess of $25,000, or an aggregate of claims by a single claimant 
during a biennium in excess of $25,000.  For the purposes of this 
subsection, all claims that were originally held by one person are 
considered held by a single claimant regardless of whether those 
claims were later transferred.
	(h)  The comptroller may pay under this section a single 
claim in an amount not to exceed $50,000 or an aggregate of claims 
by a single claimant during a biennium in a total amount not to 
exceed $50,000 to cover the fees awarded to an attorney appointed by 
a court under Section 26.051(g), Code of Criminal Procedure, to 
represent an indigent inmate in a capital case.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                      
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to an 
award of attorney's fees on or after the effective date of this Act.  
An award of attorney's fees made before the effective date of this 
Act is covered by the law in effect on the date the award was made, 
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.