Honorable Tryon D. Lewis, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1237 by Schwertner (Relating to referral of disputes for alternative dispute resolution, including victim-directed referrals; authorizing a fee.), As Engrossed
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to authorize an entity providing criminal dispute resolution to collect a fee determined by a commissioners court. The fee authorized by the bill would be collected by counties and not come to the state; accordingly, the Office of Court Administration does not anticipate any significant fiscal impact to the court system resulting from the bill. The bill would take effect September 1, 2013.
Local Government Impact
Williamson, Tom Green, and Jasper Counties were contacted by the Comptroller of Public Accounts to obtain information about the referral of disputes for alternative dispute resolution, including victim-directed referrals. Williamson and Jasper Counties indicated that they could not determine if there would be a fiscal impact on their units of local government, and Tom Green County indicated they do not have an alternative dispute resolution system and would not be able to charge a fee for that purpose. This estimate assumes the bill may result in a positive fiscal impact to counties that choose to provide criminal dispute resolution services, but such impact is not anticipated to be significant.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts