BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center H.B. 2949
80R10516 SLO-D By: Merritt (Eltife)
AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Under current law, justice, municipal, and juvenile courts have been allowed to charge a fee of $10 to cover the administration costs associated with teen courts. Additionally, in 1995, an additional $10 was authorized to cover the costs associated with administering the Teen Court Program. Inflation and other cost increases have eroded the buying power of the $10 fees; however, the fees have not been increased since their original authorization.
H.B. 2949 authorizes an increase of each of those fees to $20 for the administration of the Teen Court Programs located in the Texas-Louisiana border region. The Texas-Louisiana border region is an 18-county region designated in statute (Section 2056.002 (Strategic Plans of Operation), Government Code).
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to any state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Article 45.052, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding Subsection (i), as follows:
(i) Authorizes a justice or municipal court that is located in the Texas-Louisiana border region, as defined by Section 2056.002 (Strategic Plans of Operation), Government Code, to charge a fee of $20 under those subsections, notwithstanding Subsection (e) (authorizing the justice or municipal court to require a person who requests a teen court program to pay a fee not to exceed $10 that is set by the court to cover certain costs) or (g) (authorizing the court to require a child who requests a teen court program to pay a $10 fee to cover the cost to the teen court for performing its duties).
SECTION 2. Amends Section 54.032, Family Code, by adding Subsection (h), as follows:
(h) Authorizes a juvenile court that is located in the Texas-Louisiana border region, as defined by Section 2056.002, Government Code, to charge a fee of $20 under those subsections, notwithstanding Subsection (e) (authorizes a court to require a child who requests a teen court program to pay an administration fee not to exceed $10 that is set by the court) or (g) (authorizing the court to require a child who requests a teen court program to pay a $10 fee to cover the cost to the teen court for performing its duties).
SECTION 3. Provides that this Act applies only to fees relating to a request for a teen court program under Article 45.052, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act, or Section 54.032, Family Code, as amended by this Act. Provides that a fee relating to a request for a teen court program under Article 45.052, Code of Criminal Procedure, or Section 54.032, Family Code, that became payable before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the fee became payable, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 2007.