BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 3519 |
By: White |
Juvenile Justice & Family Issues |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties contend that juvenile courts should be provided more guidelines for when it is appropriate to assess a child or other person court costs and fees. C.S.H.B. 3519 seeks to address this issue by reforming the law regarding the ability of a child, parent, or other person responsible for a child's support to pay juvenile probation fees or court costs and fees imposed by a juvenile court.
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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. 3519 amends the Family Code to remove the authorization for a juvenile board to adopt rules for the waiver of a deferred prosecution services fee for financial hardship and to instead require a juvenile probation officer or other designated officer of a juvenile court, before the officer may collect a deferred prosecution services fee from a parent or other person responsible for a child's support, to conduct an assessment to determine whether the payment of the fee, in whole or in part, would cause undue hardship. The bill requires a parent or other person responsible for the child's support to be given the opportunity to provide documentation that the household of the parent or other person earns not more than 125 percent of the income standards established by applicable federal poverty guidelines or the parent, other person, or family of the parent or other person currently receives assistance or benefits under specified state and federal programs. The bill requires the probation officer or other designated officer to make a finding that the payment of a fee would cause undue hardship and waive the fee if the parent or other person provides such documentation. The bill requires the officer, in determining whether the fee would cause undue hardship for a parent or other person whose payment is not waived on such grounds, to consider whether the person could reasonably pay the required obligation after the person discharged the person's other important financial obligations, including payments for housing, food, utilities, necessary clothing, education, and preexisting debts. The bill requires the officer, if the officer so determines that the parent or other person is unable to pay the fee in whole or in part without experiencing undue hardship, to waive the fee or collect a reduced fee in an amount that the officer determines will not cause an undue hardship.
C.S.H.B. 3519 removes certain limitations on a juvenile court's authority to waive certain fees and instead requires a juvenile court, before the court may impose a fee or cost on a child, parent, or other person responsible for the child's support, to conduct an assessment to determine whether the fee or cost would cause undue hardship. The bill requires the court to make a finding that the child, parent, or other person is unable to pay a fee or cost without experiencing undue hardship and waive the fee or cost if the parent or other person provides documentation that the household of the child, parent, or other person earns not more than 125 percent of the income standards established by applicable federal poverty guidelines or the child, parent, or other person or family of the child, parent, or other person currently receives assistance or benefits under specified state and federal programs. The bill requires the court, in determining whether a fee or cost would cause undue hardship for a child, parent, or other person whose payment is not waived on such grounds, to consider whether the person could reasonably pay the court-ordered obligation after the person discharged the person's other important financial obligations, including payments for housing, food, utilities, necessary clothing, education, and preexisting debts. The bill requires the court, if the court so determines that the child, parent, or other person is unable to pay the fee or cost in whole or in part without experiencing undue hardship, to waive the fee or order the child, parent, or other person to pay a reduced fee or cost in an amount that the court finds would not cause an undue hardship. The bill prohibits the inability of the child, parent, or other person responsible for the child's support to pay any fee or cost related to the child's case from resulting in the child being denied access to a more favorable disposition of the child's case, programming, or treatment; the child's probation or supervision being extended; or additional punishment for the child.
C.S.H.B. 3519 establishes that Government Code provisions relating to the implementation of new or amended court costs and fees do not apply to the change in the amount of fees or court costs made by the bill.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 3519 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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