BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 1729 |
By: Neave |
Criminal Jurisprudence |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties express concern about the number of rape kits in Texas that remain untested. C.S.H.B. 1729 seeks to address these concerns by establishing a grant program under which funds are dispersed to assist law enforcement agencies or counties in testing evidence collected in relation to a sexual assault or other sex offense.
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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. 1729 amends the Government Code to require the criminal justice division in the governor's office to establish and administer a grant program and to disperse funds to assist a county, a municipal police department, a county sheriff's office, or a county constable's office in testing evidence collected in relation to a sexual assault or other sex offense. The bill restricts the use of the grant funds to the testing by an accredited crime laboratory of evidence that was collected in relation to a sexual assault or other sex offense. The bill authorizes the criminal justice division to establish additional eligibility criteria for grant applicants and requires the division to establish grant application procedures, guidelines relating to grant amounts, and criteria for evaluating grant applications.
C.S.H.B. 1729 requires the criminal justice division to include in its biennial report to the legislature regarding the division's activities detailed reporting of the results and performance of the grant program and authorizes the division to use any revenue available to the division to fund the grant program. The bill establishes the evidence testing account as a dedicated account in the general revenue fund of the state treasury, restricts appropriation of money in the account to the criminal justice division for purposes of the evidence testing grant program, and subjects the grant funds to audit by the comptroller of public accounts.
C.S.H.B. 1729 amends the Transportation Code to authorize a person to contribute $1 or more to the evidence testing grant program when applying for an original or renewal driver's license or personal identification certificate or original or renewal commercial driver's license. The bill requires the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to include space on the first page of each application for such a license or certificate that allows a person applying for such a license or certificate to indicate the amount that the person is voluntarily contributing to the grant program and to provide an opportunity for the person to contribute to the grant program during the application process for such a license or certificate on the DPS website. The bill requires DPS to send any contribution for the grant program to the comptroller for deposit to the credit of the evidence testing account not later than the 14th day of each month. The bill authorizes DPS to deduct money equal to the amount of reasonable expenses for administering the voluntary contribution for the grant program before sending the money to the comptroller.
C.S.H.B. 1729 applies only to a person who applies for an original or renewal driver's license, commercial driver's license, or personal identification certificate on or after January 1, 2018.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 1729 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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