LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 78TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 7, 2003

TO:	Honorable Carlos Uresti, Chair, House Committee on Human Services
FROM:	John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB3189 by Uresti (Relating to the inspection of, and enforcement of laws relating to, nursing homes and intermediate care facilities.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would allow, under certain conditions, county attorneys in counties with a population of greater than 3.4 million to pursue penalties against a nursing home licensed under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 242 and an Intermediate Care Facility for the Mentally Retarded (ICF/MR) licensed under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 252.

 

The bill would allow a county attorney to pursue cases for which the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has deferred prosecution and which are accepted by such county attorney. The bill would further provide that the county attorney may collect and retain its costs and fees for pursuing these cases from the defendant under the same conditions as the OAG. The bill would also provide that any penalties collected by the county attorney would be divided equally between the county and the State. The bill would take effect September 1, 2003.

Local Government Impact

Because the bill would not have statewide impact on units of local government of the same type or class, no comment from this office is required by the rules of the House/Senate as to its probable fiscal implication on units of local government.

Source Agencies:	212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 302 Office of the Attorney General, 324 Department of Human Services
LBB Staff:	JK, EB, KF, ML, KG