By: West S.B. No. 1419
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to funding for juvenile case managers through certain fees
  and court costs and to the establishment of the truancy prevention
  and diversion fund.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Articles 45.056(a) and (c), Code of Criminal
  Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  On approval of the commissioners court, city council,
  school district board of trustees, juvenile board, or other
  appropriate authority, a county court, justice court, municipal
  court, school district, juvenile probation department, or other
  appropriate governmental entity may:
               (1)  employ a case manager to provide services in cases
  involving juvenile offenders who are before a court consistent with
  the court's statutory powers or referred to a court by a school
  administrator or designee for misconduct that would otherwise be
  within the court's statutory powers prior to a case being filed,
  with the consent of the juvenile and the juvenile's parents or
  guardians; or
               (2)  agree in accordance with Chapter 791, Government
  Code, to jointly employ a case manager.
         (c)  A county or justice court on approval of the
  commissioners court or a municipality or municipal court on
  approval of the city council may employ one or more juvenile case
  managers who shall [to] assist the court in administering the
  court's juvenile docket, [and] in supervising its court orders in
  juvenile cases, and may provide prevention services to a child
  considered at-risk under Subchapter D, Chapter 264, Family Code,
  and intervention services to juveniles engaged in misconduct prior
  to cases being filed, excluding traffic offenses.
         SECTION 2.  Article 102.014(d), Code of Criminal Procedure,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (d)  A person convicted of an offense under Section 25.093
  [or 25.094], Education Code, shall pay as taxable court costs $20 in
  addition to other taxable court costs. The additional court costs
  under this subsection shall be collected in the same manner that
  other fines and taxable court costs in the case are collected.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter A, Chapter 102, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, is amended by adding Article 102.015 to read as follows:
         Art. 102.015.  COURT COSTS: TRUANCY PREVENTION AND DIVERSION
  FUND. (a) The truancy prevention and diversion fund is a dedicated
  account in the general revenue fund.
         (b)  A person convicted of an offense under Section 25.094,
  Education Code, shall pay as a court cost $20 in addition to other
  court costs. The additional court cost under this subsection shall
  be collected in the same manner that other fines and court costs in
  the case are collected.
         (c)  Notwithstanding any other law, any court cost payable by
  a person convicted of an offense under Section 25.094, Education
  Code, shall be deposited to the credit of the truancy prevention and
  diversion fund.
         (d)  For purposes of this article, a person is considered to
  have been convicted if:
               (1)  a sentence is imposed;
               (2)  the defendant receives community supervision or
  deferred adjudication; or
               (3)  the court defers final disposition of the case.
         (e)  Court costs under this article are collected in the same
  manner as other fines or costs. An officer collecting the costs
  shall keep separate records of the funds collected as costs under
  this article and shall deposit the funds in the county treasury.
         (f)  The custodian of a county treasury shall:
               (1)  keep records of the amount of funds on deposit
  collected under this article; and
               (2)  send to the comptroller before the last day of the
  first month following each calendar quarter the funds collected
  under this article during the preceding quarter.
         (g)  If no funds due as costs under this article are
  deposited in a county treasury in a calendar quarter, the custodian
  of the treasury shall file the report required for the quarter in
  the regular manner and must state that no funds were collected.
         (h)  The comptroller shall deposit the funds received under
  this article to the credit of a dedicated account in the general
  revenue fund to be known as the truancy prevention and diversion
  fund. The legislature may appropriate money from the account only
  to the attorney general's office for distribution to fund programs
  that use juvenile case managers to provide services for juveniles
  who are truants. The attorney general's office shall ensure that
  money distributed under this subsection is used for a public
  purpose.
         (i)  Funds collected under this article are subject to audit
  by the comptroller.
         SECTION 4.  Chapter 54, Family Code, is amended by adding
  Section 54.0412 to read as follows:
         Sec. 54.0412.  TRUANCY PREVENTION AND DIVERSION FUND. (a)
  If a disposition hearing is held under Section 54.04 of this code
  for a child found to have engaged in conduct indicating a need for
  supervision based on a violation of Section 25.094, Education Code,
  the juvenile court, after giving the child, parent, or other person
  responsible for the child's support a reasonable opportunity to be
  heard, shall order the child, parent, or other person, if
  financially able to do so, to pay a fee as costs of court of $20.
         (b)  Orders for the payment of fees under this section may be
  enforced as provided by Section 54.07 of this code.
         (c)  An officer collecting costs under this section shall
  keep separate records of the funds collected as costs under this
  section and shall deposit the funds in the county treasury.
         (d)  Each officer collecting court costs under this section
  shall file the reports required under Article 103.005, Code of
  Criminal Procedure. If no funds due as costs under this section
  have been collected in any quarter, the report required for each
  quarter shall be filed in the regular manner, and the report must
  state that no funds due under this section were collected.
         (e)  The custodian of the county treasury shall keep records
  of the amount of funds on deposit collected under this section and
  not later than the last day of the month following each calendar
  quarter shall send to the comptroller of public accounts the funds
  collected under this section during the preceding quarter.
         (f)  Funds collected are subject to audit by the comptroller
  and funds expended are subject to audit by the State Auditor.
         (g)  The comptroller shall deposit the funds in the truancy
  prevention and diversion fund, as created by Article 102.015, Code
  of Criminal Procedure.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter B, Chapter 103, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 103.034 to read as follows:
         Sec. 103.034.  MISCELLANEOUS FEES AND COSTS: TRUANCY
  PREVENTION AND DIVERSION FUND. A fee for the truancy prevention and
  diversion fund established under Article 102.015, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, shall be collected under Section 54.0412, Family Code.
         SECTION 6.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a fee collected on or after the effective date of this Act. A fee
  collected before the effective date of this Act is covered by the
  law in effect when the fee was collected, and the former law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.