| TO: | Honorable Terry Keel, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB1031 by Lewis (Relating to the release of a criminal defendant on partial bail and to the procedures governing a cash bond.), As Introduced |
Counties would gain some revenue when the bill is implemented. The Tarrant County Criminal Courts reported that they average approximately $1.6 million in a cash bond account for approximately 2,000 cases. If deposited in an interest-bearing account with an interest of two percent, $32,000 per year in interest revenue for the courts would result. Also, the courts in Tarrant County currently impose an administration fee of five percent of total costs or $50, whichever is less. Increasing the administration fee to ten percent could result in $160,000 of revenue per year for the courts. Combined, the two fees would produce $192,000 per year in additional revenue for the courts, which is four percent of the courts' total budget of approximately $4.8 million. The five-year total would be $960,000.
Harris County reported that over a five-year period, implementing the bill would allow the county to retain up to $4.6 million in revenue from administrative fees and interest.
Kerr, Travis, and Lubbock counties reported that their revenues would increase, but the amount of the increase would not be significant.
Williamson County reported that in order to implement the bill in the county, an additional full-time employee would have to be hired, at a cost of approximately $25,000 to $30,000 per year.
| Source Agencies: | 696 Department Of Criminal Justice
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| LBB Staff: | JK, WK, VDS, AB, KG
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