BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 480 |
By: Bell |
Criminal Jurisprudence |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties raise the concern that while other governmental entities are authorized to commission reserve or unpaid peace officers there is no statutory authority for a prosecuting attorney to appoint reserve investigators. The parties are also concerned about the inability of the counties to retain investigators because they are unable to pay a competitive wage to these professionals. C.S.H.B. 480 recognizes the need for reserve investigators and proposes to provide this additional investigative support to prosecutors.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 480 amends the Government Code to authorize a county commissioners court to authorize a prosecuting attorney to appoint reserve investigators. The bill authorizes the commissioners court to limit the number of reserve investigators that a prosecuting attorney may appoint. The bill authorizes a reserve investigator to accept other employment or compensation that does not impair the investigator's independence in the performance of the investigator's duties for the prosecuting attorney.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 480 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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