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79R159 KCR-F

By:  Riddle                                                       H.B. No. 85 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the release on bond of certain criminal defendants.               
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Article 17.02, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended to read as follows:
	Art. 17.02.  DEFINITION OF "BAIL BOND"; CASH BOND 
AUTHORIZED.  (a)  A "bail bond" is a written undertaking entered 
into by the defendant and the defendant's [his] sureties for the 
appearance of the principal therein before some court or magistrate 
to answer a criminal accusation; provided, however, that the 
defendant upon execution of such bail bond may deposit with the 
custodian of funds of the court in which the prosecution is pending 
current money of the United States in the amount of the bond, or in a 
lesser amount as provided by Article 17.025, in lieu of having 
sureties signing the same.
	(b)  Any cash funds deposited under this Article or Article 
17.025 shall be receipted for by the officer receiving those funds. 
The officer shall deposit the funds in an interest-bearing account 
established for purposes of this subsection.  Interest on the 
amount in the account may be retained by the county to cover the 
costs of administering this subsection.  In addition, the county 
may impose a fee, not to exceed 10 percent of the amount deposited, 
to cover those administrative costs.  The officer shall refund the 
amount deposited, less any amount retained under this subsection as 
an administrative fee, [the same and shall be refunded] to the 
defendant, or to another person to whom that amount is assigned by 
the defendant in a signed written instrument filed with that 
officer, [if and] when the defendant complies with the conditions 
of the defendant's [his] bond, and upon order of the court.
	SECTION 2.  Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended by adding Article 17.025 to read as follows:
	Art. 17.025.  RELEASE ON BOND IN PARTIAL AMOUNT.  (a)  A 
magistrate may release a defendant on bail by permitting the 
defendant to deposit an amount of cash bond or to submit a bail bond 
in an amount that is less than the total amount of bail set in the 
case if the magistrate determines that requiring the defendant to 
deposit a cash bond or to procure a bail bond in the full amount of 
bail will impose an unreasonable hardship on the defendant.
	(b)  Only the court before whom the case is pending may 
release a defendant under this article if the defendant is a 
defendant described by Article 17.03(b).
	(c)  A magistrate who releases a defendant under this article 
may impose any condition on the release that the magistrate could 
impose if the defendant were released on personal bond.
	SECTION 3.  Article 17.03(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(b)  Only the court before whom the case is pending may 
release on personal bond a defendant who:
		(1)  is charged with an offense under the following 
sections of the Penal Code:
			(A)  Section 19.02 (Murder);                                          
			(B)  Section 19.03 (Capital Murder);                                  
			(C)  Section 19.04 (Manslaughter);                                    
			(D)  Section 19.05 (Criminally Negligent 
Homicide);                 
			(E) [(B)]  Section 20.04 (Aggravated Kidnapping);    
			(F) [(C)]  Section 22.021 (Aggravated Sexual 
Assault)[;
			[(D)  Section 22.03 (Deadly Assault on Law 
Enforcement or Corrections Officer, Member or Employee of Board of 
Pardons and Paroles, or Court Participant)];
			(G) [(E)]  Section 22.04 (Injury to a Child, 
Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual);
			(H) [(F)]  Section 29.03 (Aggravated Robbery);       
			(I) [(G)]  Section 30.02 (Burglary);                 
			(J)  Section 49.08 (Intoxication Manslaughter);
or                   
			(K) [(H)]  Section 71.02 (Engaging in Organized 
Criminal Activity);
		(2)  is charged with a felony under Chapter 481, Health 
and Safety Code, or Section 485.032 [485.033], Health and Safety 
Code, punishable by imprisonment for a minimum term or by a maximum 
fine that is more than a minimum term or maximum fine for a first 
degree felony; or
		(3)  does not submit to testing for the presence of a 
controlled substance in the defendant's body as requested by the 
court or magistrate under Subsection (c) of this article or submits 
to testing and the test shows evidence of the presence of a 
controlled substance in the defendant's body.
	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only to 
an offense committed on or after September 1, 2005.  An offense 
committed before September 1, 2005, is covered by the law in effect 
when the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in 
effect for that purpose.  For the purposes of this section, an 
offense was committed before September 1, 2005, if any element of 
the offense was committed before that date.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.