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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to a personal bond office and pretrial services in certain |
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counties. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 1, Article 17.42, Code of Criminal |
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Procedure, is amended to read as follows: |
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Sec. 1. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), any [Any] |
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county, or any judicial district with jurisdiction in more than one |
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county, with the approval of the commissioners court of each county |
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in the district, may establish a personal bond office to gather and |
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review information about an accused that may have a bearing on |
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whether the accused [he] will comply with the conditions of a |
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personal bond and report its findings to the court before which the |
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case is pending. |
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(b) The commissioners court of a county with a population of |
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700,000 or more but less than 780,000 shall establish a personal |
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bond office for that county. In addition to the duties described by |
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Subsection (a), an office established under this subsection must |
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implement a pretrial services program to provide services related |
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to defendants released on bail in the county, including supervising |
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and otherwise monitoring a defendant to ensure the defendant's: |
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(1) compliance with conditions of bail; and |
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(2) appearance in court as required. |
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SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2018, the |
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commissioners court of a county described by Section 1(b), Article |
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17.42, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, shall |
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establish the personal bond office as required by that section. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |