80R5642 SLO-F

By: Turner H.B. No. 3636

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the appointment of an attorney to represent an indigent defendant who is in the custody of a correctional facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or another related correctional facility.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Article 26.051(a)(2), Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

(2) "Correctional institutions [Institutional] division" means the correctional institutions [institutional] division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

SECTION 2. Article 26.051, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by amending Subsections (d) and (h) and adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:

(d) A court shall:

(1) [may] notify the board if it determines that a defendant before the court is indigent and is an inmate charged with an offense committed while in the custody of the correctional institutions [institutional] division or a correctional facility authorized by Section 495.001, Government Code; and

(2) request that the board provide legal representation for the inmate.

(h) When the court appoints an attorney other than an attorney provided by the board:

(1) except as otherwise provided by this article, the inmate's legal defense is subject to Articles 1.051, 15.17, 26.04, 26.05, and 26.052, as applicable; and

(2) the county in which a facility of the correctional institutions division or a correctional facility authorized by Section 495.001, Government Code, is located shall pay from its general fund the total costs of the aggregate amount allowed and awarded by the court for attorney compensation and expenses under Article 26.05 or 26.052, as applicable [, the county shall pay from its general fund the first $250.00 of the aggregate sum allowed and awarded by the court for the attorney fees under Article 26.05 of this code. If the fees awarded for a court-appointed attorney in a case described by this subsection exceed $250.00, the court shall certify the amount in excess of $250.00 to the board. On request of the board, the comptroller shall issue a warrant to the court-appointed attorney in the amount certified to the board by the court].

(i) The state shall reimburse a county for attorney compensation and expenses awarded under Subsection (h). A court seeking reimbursement for a county shall certify to the comptroller of public accounts the amount of compensation and expenses for which the county is entitled to be reimbursed under this article. Not later than the 60th day after the date the comptroller receives from the court the request for reimbursement, the comptroller shall issue a warrant to the county in the amount certified by the court.

SECTION 3. Articles 26.051(b) and (c), Code of Criminal Procedure, and Article 26.055, Code of Criminal Procedure, are repealed.

SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies to an appointment of an attorney under Article 26.051, Code of Criminal Procedure, made on or after the effective date of this Act. An appointment of an attorney made before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the appointment was made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.