Honorable Robert Duncan, Chair, Senate Committee on Jurisprudence
FROM:
John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB190 by Carona (Relating to security fees in certain civil and criminal cases.), As Introduced
No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend Section 291.008(a), Local Government Code, to increase from a limit of $5 to a limit of $10 that a county commissioner's court could charge at the time of filing each civil case filed in county-level and district courts. The bill would also amend Article 102.017(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, to increase from $5 to $10 the fee collected from a defendant convicted of a felony offense in a district court. The bill would take effect September 1, 2003 and would apply only to civil cases filed on or after that date and to criminal cases for offenses committeed on or after the effective date.
Local Government Impact
Based on the number of applicable civil cases and criminal cases in fiscal year 2002, if the number of cases were to remain the same and if every court charged the maximum $10 fee, and assuming a 33 percent collection rate in criminal cases, courts statewide would collect more than an additional $2.8 million per year. The positive fiscal impact per court, and therefore per county, would vary.
Source Agencies:
212 Office Of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller Of Public Accounts