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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to funding for juvenile case managers through certain |
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court costs and to the establishment of the truancy prevention and |
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diversion fund. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (c), Article 45.056, Code of |
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Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows: |
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(a) On approval of the commissioners court, city council, |
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school district board of trustees, juvenile board, or other |
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appropriate authority, a county court, justice court, municipal |
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court, school district, juvenile probation department, or other |
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appropriate governmental entity may: |
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(1) employ a case manager to provide services in cases |
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involving juvenile offenders who are before a court consistent with |
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the court's statutory powers or referred to a court by a school |
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administrator or designee for misconduct that would otherwise be |
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within the court's statutory powers prior to a case being filed, |
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with the consent of the juvenile and the juvenile's parents or |
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guardians; or |
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(2) agree in accordance with Chapter 791, Government |
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Code, to jointly employ a case manager. |
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(c) A county or justice court on approval of the |
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commissioners court or a municipality or municipal court on |
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approval of the city council may employ one or more juvenile case |
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managers who: |
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(1) shall [to] assist the court in administering the |
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court's juvenile docket and in supervising its court orders in |
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juvenile cases; and |
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(2) may provide: |
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(A) prevention services to a child considered at |
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risk of entering the juvenile justice system; and |
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(B) intervention services to juveniles engaged |
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in misconduct prior to cases being filed, excluding traffic |
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offenses. |
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SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 102, Code of Criminal |
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Procedure, is amended by adding Article 102.015 to read as follows: |
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Art. 102.015. COURT COSTS: TRUANCY PREVENTION AND |
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DIVERSION FUND. (a) The truancy prevention and diversion fund is |
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a dedicated account in the general revenue fund. |
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(b) A person convicted in municipal or justice court of an |
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offense, other than an offense relating to a pedestrian or the |
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parking of a motor vehicle, shall pay as a court cost $2 in addition |
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to other court costs. |
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(c) For purposes of this article, a person is considered to |
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have been convicted if: |
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(1) a sentence is imposed; or |
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(2) the defendant receives deferred disposition in the |
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case. |
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(d) Court costs under this article are collected in the same |
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manner as other fines or costs. An officer collecting the costs |
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shall keep separate records of the funds collected as costs under |
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this article and shall deposit the funds in the county treasury or |
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municipal treasury, as applicable. |
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(e) The custodian of a county treasury or municipal |
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treasury, as applicable, shall: |
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(1) keep records of the amount of funds on deposit |
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collected under this article; and |
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(2) send to the comptroller before the last day of the |
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first month following each calendar quarter the funds collected |
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under this article during the preceding quarter, except that the |
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custodian may retain 50 percent of funds collected under this |
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article for the purpose of operating or establishing a juvenile |
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case manager program, if the county or municipality has established |
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or is attempting to establish a juvenile case manager program. |
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(f) If no funds due as costs under this article are |
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deposited in a county treasury or municipal treasury in a calendar |
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quarter, the custodian of the treasury shall file the report |
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required for the quarter in the regular manner and must state that |
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no funds were collected. |
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(g) The comptroller shall deposit the funds received under |
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this article to the credit of a dedicated account in the general |
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revenue fund to be known as the truancy prevention and diversion |
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fund. The legislature may appropriate money from the account only |
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to the criminal justice division of the governor's office for |
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distribution to local governmental entities for truancy prevention |
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and intervention services. |
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(h) A local governmental entity may request funds from the |
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criminal justice division of the governor's office for providing |
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truancy prevention and intervention services. The division may |
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award the requested funds based on the availability of appropriated |
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funds and subject to the application procedure and eligibility |
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requirements specified by division rule. |
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(i) Funds collected under this article are subject to audit |
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by the comptroller. |
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SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 103, Government Code, is |
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amended by adding Section 103.034 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 103.034. MISCELLANEOUS COURT COSTS: TRUANCY |
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PREVENTION AND DIVERSION FUND. Court costs of $2 for the truancy |
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prevention and diversion fund established under Article 102.015, |
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Code of Criminal Procedure, shall be collected under that article. |
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SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the |
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former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
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this section, an offense is committed before the effective date of |
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this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that |
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date. |
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SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |