79R7187 MFC-F

By:  Wentworth                                                    S.B. No. 875



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.