By: Dale, Gonzales, Farney H.B. No. 184

(Senate Sponsor - Schwertner)

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2015; May 6, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; May 18, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 18, 2015, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the allocation of costs and attorney's fees incurred by a Court of Inquiry.

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

SECTION 1. Article 52.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the [The] county in which the affidavit under Article 52.01 was filed shall be responsible for any attorney's fees awarded under Subsection (b).

(d) If the subject of the Court of Inquiry was an officer or employee of the state at the time of the alleged offense, the state shall be responsible for any attorney's fees awarded under Subsection (b).

SECTION 2. Article 52.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), all [All] costs incurred in conducting a Court of Inquiry, including compensation of an attorney pro tem, shall be borne by:

(1) the county in which the [said] Court of Inquiry is conducted, if the subject of the inquiry was not an officer or employee of the state at the time of the alleged offense; or

(2) the state, if the subject of the inquiry was an officer or employee of the state at the time of the alleged offense.

(a-1) If[; provided, however, that where] the Attorney General of Texas [has] submitted a request in writing to the judge for the holding of the [such] Court of Inquiry, [then and in that event] the costs described by Subsection (a) shall be borne by the state [State of Texas] and shall be taxed to the attorney general and paid in the same manner and from the same funds as other court costs.

(b) Assistance by a county or district attorney to a Court of Inquiry is a duty of the attorney's office, and the attorney may not receive a fee for the service. The state or the [A] county responsible for costs incurred under Subsection (a), as applicable, is not liable for attorney's fees claimed for assistance in a Court of Inquiry by any attorney other than an attorney pro tem appointed under Article 52.01(d) [of this code].

SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only to a Court of Inquiry commenced on or after the effective date of this Act. A Court of Inquiry commenced before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the Court of Inquiry was commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.

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