TO: | Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice |
FROM: | John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
IN RE: | SB1616 by West (Relating to the collection, storage, preservation, retrieval, and destruction of biological evidence.), As Introduced |
Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
---|---|
2012 | $0 |
2013 | $0 |
2014 | $0 |
2015 | $0 |
2016 | $0 |
Fiscal Year | Probable Revenue Gain from Biological Evidence Preservation Account, New |
---|---|
2012 | $1,084,000 |
2013 | $2,821,000 |
2014 | $3,059,000 |
2015 | $3,317,000 |
2016 | $3,596,000 |
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to adopt rules relating to the collection, storage, preservation, and retrieval of biological evidence. These rules would apply to certain governmental or public entities and individuals charged with the collection, storage, preservation, or retrieval of biological evidence.
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure by adding Article 102.021 which would require any offender convicted of a felony to pay a $25 court cost for funding the preservation of biological evidence that would be remitted to the state. The bill would create a new General Revenue-Dedicated Account called the Biological Evidence Preservation Account where revenues from the new court cost would be deposited.
Counties are authorized to keep 10% of the court cost if they remit deposits to the Comptroller on a timely basis. The statewide annual revenue estimated to be retained by counties each year is $163,913. Based on the implementation date of the bill and the timing of remittances to the State Comptroller's Office, revenue in the first year would be about half the annual amount - $81,957.
The Department would have to create administrative rules relating to how biological evidence is collected, stored, preserved, and destroyed. Fiscal impact would vary depending in the specific rules adopted and current practices in a given locality.
Source Agencies: | 212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 405 Department of Public Safety
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LBB Staff: | JOB, ESi, GG, TB, KKR, JJO
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