TO: | Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence |
FROM: | John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
IN RE: | HB2019 by McClendon (Relating to the establishment, operation, and funding of victim-offender mediation programs.), As Introduced |
The bill would add Subchapter A-1 to Chapter 56 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize a county or a municipality to establish a pretrial victim-offender mediation program for cases involving a first-time offender arrested and charged under Title 7 of the Penal Code (Offenses Against Property). Operational procedures that must be followed by a local entity that establishes a program are provided in the bill, including requirements of the attorney representing the state and staff and other resources of pretrial services departments and community supervision and corrections departments.
The bill would authorize the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of representatives to assign oversight duties of the programs to appropriate legislative committees. A legislative committee or the governor would be authorized to request that the state auditor perform a management, operations, or financial or accounting audit of a pretrial victim-offender mediation program established under the subchapter.
A pretrial victim-offender mediation program would be authorized to collect from the defendant, a reasonable program fee not to exceed $500 and an alcohol or controlled substance testing, counseling, and treatment fee necessary to cover the costs. Fees must be based on the defendant's ability to pay and be used only for purposes specific to the program.
The bill would amend Subchapter A of Chapter 102, Code of Criminal Procedure, to require a $15 court cost on conviction of a felony or misdemeanor under Title 7, Penal Code. If the county or municipality operates a pretrial victim offender mediation program, that entity would be authorized to retain the funds collected to be used exclusively for the maintenance of the pretrial victim-offender mediation program operated within the county or municipality.
The bill would amend Subchapter B, Chapter 102 of the Government Code to include language to conform to the provisions of Subchapter A-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The bill would take effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all members elected to each house. If the bill does not receive the votes required to pass, the bill would take effect September 1, 2011.
According to the Office of the Attorney General, the provisions of the bill are not anticipated to have a significant impact on the agency’s workload.
According to the State Auditor's Office (SAO), because the bill authorizes a new requirement, the SAO assumes there would not be a request from a legislative committee or the Governor for an audit of these programs during fiscal years (FY) 2012 and 2013. The analysis further assumes that the SAO would receive one request for an audit of one program in one county during FY 2014 and one request in FY 2016. The estimated time for each audit would be 1,500 hours and, using the SAO's billing rate of $92 per hour the cost would be $152,400 (inclusive of $14,400 travel expenses). SAO reported the cost to the SAO are not significant and could be absorbed within the existing budget.
Source Agencies: | 212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 302 Office of the Attorney General, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 308 State Auditor's Office, 696 Department of Criminal Justice
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LBB Staff: | JOB, ESi, TP, LM, JJO, TB
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