By: West S.B. No. 389

(In the Senate - Filed February 5, 2013; February 13, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence; February 25, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; February 25, 2013, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 389 By: West

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the imposition of court costs in certain criminal proceedings.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 51, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 51.608 to read as follows:

Sec. 51.608. IMPOSITION OF COURT COSTS IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS. Notwithstanding any other law that establishes the amount of a court cost collected by the clerk of a district, county, or statutory county court from a defendant in a criminal proceeding based on the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, the amount of a court cost imposed on the defendant in a criminal proceeding must be the amount established under the law in effect on the date the defendant is convicted of the offense.

SECTION 2. Section 51.608, Government Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a defendant convicted of an offense on or after the effective date of this Act. A defendant convicted of an offense before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time of the conviction, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.

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