Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1526 by Hinojosa (Relating to discovery in a criminal case.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to establish requirements for discovery of evidence between prosecutors and defense counsel in criminal cases. The bill includes some specific hearings that courts could be called upon to hold in some circumstances. The bill would take effect September 1, 2011.
Local Government Impact
According to the Office of Court Administration, additional pre-trial court time could be significant in some jurisdictions, and the cost of production of documents to indigent defendants would also have a local fiscal impact. Costs to local courts would vary depending by locality depending on a given court's workload and the number of indigent defendents requesting documents under the provisions of the bill, but are not likely to be significant.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council