| TO: | Honorable Will Hartnett, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB2385 by Lucio III (Relating to the collection of fees by a district attorney or criminal district attorney for certain expenses related to pretrial intervention programs.), As Introduced |
The bill would amend Chapter 102, Code of Criminal Procedure, to authorize a district attorney or criminal district attorney to collect a fee in an amount not to exceed $500 from any defendant who participates in a pretrial intervention program administered in any part by the attorney's office. The fee would be used to reimburse the attorney's office for expenses related to a defendant's participation in a pretrial intervention program.
Changes in the law would apply only to a defendant's participation in a pretrial intervention program that begins on or after the effective date of the bill, which would be September 1, 2007.
The revenue gain would vary by county depending on the number of defendants in each county that would be required to participate in a pretrial intervention program administered by the district attorney's or criminal district attorney's office, the actual amount of the fee that would be imposed, and the collection rate.
As an example, Bexar County reports that there are approximately 7,400 defendants required to participate in a pretrial intervention program annually. If each of those defendants were to pay a $500 fee, the district attorney's office would experience a revenue gain of $3.7 million; however, the county indicates that these funds would not be at the disposal of the county's general fund to offset the costs of the pretrial supervision division.
Harris County reports that the district attorney grants only about 50 pretrial interventions per year, and assumes a fee of $100 would be charged under provisions of the bill, for an annual revenue gain of $5,000. However, while the district attorney's office incurs some costs associated with the program, the community supervision and corrections department is the primary administrator and therefore incurs the majority of the costs.
| Source Agencies: |
| LBB Staff: | JOB, MN, DB
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