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By: Straus H.B. No. 3266
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the reimbursement by certain defendants for the cost of
confinement in county jail.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (b), Article 42.033, Code of
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) (1) Where jail time has been awarded to a person
sentenced for a misdemeanor or sentenced to confinement in the
county jail for a felony or when a defendant is serving a period of
confinement as a condition of community supervision, the trial
judge, at the time of the pronouncement of sentence or at any time
while the defendant is serving the sentence or period of
confinement, when in the judge's discretion the ends of justice
would best be served, may permit the defendant to serve the
defendant's sentence or period of confinement intermittently
during his off-work hours or on weekends.
(2) The trial judge shall require as a condition of
permitting a defendant to serve a sentence or period of confinement
intermittently that the defendant reimburse the county for the cost
of the defendant's confinement based on the average daily cost of
confining defendants in the county jail, as determined by the
commissioners court. For purposes of this subdivision, a defendant
who is confined in county jail for only a portion of a day is
nonetheless considered to have been confined for the whole day. The
sheriff shall establish a payment schedule for defendants
participating in the intermittent confinement program, and on
notification to the trial judge that a defendant has failed to make
a scheduled payment, the judge shall terminate the defendant's
participation in the program.
(3) The judge may require bail of the defendant to
ensure the faithful performance of the sentence or period of
confinement. The judge may attach conditions regarding the
employment, travel, and other conduct of the defendant during the
performance of such a sentence or period of confinement.
(b) The court may impose as a condition to permitting a
defendant to serve the jail time assessed or period of confinement
intermittently an additional requirement that the defendant make
any of the following payments to the court, agencies, or persons, or
that the defendant execute a letter and direct it to the defendant's
employer directing the employer to deduct from the defendant's
salary an amount directed by the court, which is to be sent by the
employer to the clerk of the court. The money received by the court
under this section may be used to pay the following expenses as
directed by the court:
(1) the support of the defendant's dependents, if
necessary;
(2) the defendant's documented personal, business, and
travel expenses; and
(3) [reimbursement of the general fund of the county
for the maintenance of the defendant in jail; and
[(4)] installment payments on restitution, fines, and
court costs ordered by the court.
SECTION 2. Article 42.038, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) A defendant who is permitted to serve the defendant's
sentence or period of confinement intermittently under Article
42.033, but whose participation in the intermittent confinement
program is terminated under Article 42.033(a)(2), is subject to the
requirements of this article, except that the sheriff shall deduct
from the bill presented to the defendant under Subsection (e) any
amount previously received by the sheriff from the defendant under
Article 42.033(b)(3).
SECTION 3. Subsections (a) and (b), Article 42.033, Code of
Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act, apply only to a
defendant who on or after the effective date of this Act is
sentenced to confinement in a county jail or required as a condition
of community supervision to serve a period of confinement in a
county jail.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.