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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to a court cost to support the collection of fees, fines, |
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or court costs in criminal cases. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 102, Code of Criminal |
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Procedure, is amended by adding Article 102.0175 to read as |
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follows: |
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Art. 102.0175. COURT COSTS; COLLECTION FINE. (a) The |
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governing body of a county or municipality by order or ordinance may |
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require a defendant who is delinquent in paying a court cost on |
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conviction to pay as an additional court cost a fine of $50 to be |
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used to support the collection of fees, fines, or costs of court in |
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criminal cases. The court cost under this subsection shall be |
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collected in the same manner that other fines and costs in the case |
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are collected. |
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(b) Any ordinance or order must authorize a judge or justice |
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to waive the fine in a case of financial hardship. |
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(c) In this article, a defendant is considered to be |
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delinquent in paying a court cost on conviction if the defendant |
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does not pay the court cost before the 60th day after the date the |
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cost was due. |
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SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to a cost on conviction for an offense committed on or after the |
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effective date of this Act. A cost on conviction for an offense |
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committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the |
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law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is |
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continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, |
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an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if |
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any element of the offense was committed before that date. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007. |