| TO: | Honorable Chris Harris, Chair, Senate Committee on Jurisprudence |
| FROM: | John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB904 by Thompson (Relating to court costs imposed on conviction and deposited to the municipal court building security fund.), As Engrossed |
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to increase court costs imposed on conviction of misdemeanor offenses from $3 to $4 to be deposited into a municipal court building security fund if a municipality has established a fund.
According to the Office of Court Administration (OCA), the total number of municipal court convictions for fiscal year (FY) 2010 was 4,712,841. Assuming a collection rate of 65 percent, and that all municipalities have a municipal court building security fund to assess the court cost, the total additional revenue for all municipalities would be $3,063,347 that would vary depending on the number of misdemeanor convictions.
According to information reported to the Comptroller of Public Accounts by several municipalities, there would be additional revenue for the court cost increase, but it would vary and is not anticipated to be significant.
The City of Houston currently collects $1.0 million annually with the current fee, but would collect $1.3 million in FY 2012 which would be additional revenue of $277,778.
The City of Mesquite currently collects $45,000 annually with the current fee, but would collect $60,000 in fiscal year FY 2012 which would be additional revenue of $15,000.
The City of Hurst currently collects $41,000 annually with the current fee, but would collect $54,666 in fiscal year FY 2012 which would be additional revenue of $13,666.
| Source Agencies: |
| LBB Staff: | JOB, JT, JB
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