| TO: | Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB1828 by Farabee (Relating to the name and use of the graffiti eradication fund.), As Engrossed |
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to change the name of the fund for which court fees are collected on certain juvenile offenses and to expand the use of those fees. The bill would take effect September 1, 2003 and would apply only to fees ordered by a juvenile court on or after that date, without regard to when the offense ocurred.
The bill would change the name of the graffiti eradication fund to the juvenile delinquency prevention fund. Currently, the $5 fee deposited into the fund may be used only for repairing damage caused by graffiti, providing educational and invervention programs, and providing public rewards for identifying and aiding in the apprehension and prosecution of graffiti offenders. The bill would expand the uses of the fee to include funding for teen recognition and teen recreation programs, local teen court programs, local juvenile probation departments, and educational and interrvention programs designed to prevent juveniles from engaging in delinquent conduct.
Because the amount of the fee is not being changed, the only local fiscal impact would be from the expanded use of the fee.
| Source Agencies: | 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 696 Department of Criminal Justice
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| LBB Staff: | JK, WK, GO, DLBa
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