86R27502 ADM-F
 
  By: Kacal, Harris H.B. No. 2020
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2020:
 
  By:  Murr C.S.H.B. No. 2020
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the release of defendants on bail.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  This Act may be cited as the Damon Allen Act.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Articles 17.021 and 17.027 to read as follows:
         Art. 17.021.  BAIL ADVISORY COMMISSION. (a) The Bail
  Advisory Commission is established to develop recommendations for
  the Texas Judicial Council regarding a validated pretrial risk
  assessment tool that is standardized for statewide use and
  regarding best practices for personal bond offices. The
  recommendations must include a validated pretrial risk assessment
  tool that is developed as described by Subsection (h).
         (b)  The commission is composed of 11 members appointed as
  follows:
               (1)  three members with an interest in criminal justice
  who are appointed by the governor, including:
                     (A)  one person with at least 10 years of law
  enforcement experience;
                     (B)  one attorney licensed to practice law in this
  state who has practiced primarily in the area of criminal defense
  for at least 10 years; and
                     (C)  one attorney licensed to practice law in this
  state who has practiced criminal law in the office of an attorney
  representing the state for at least 10 years;
               (2)  the presiding officer of the Senate Committee on
  Criminal Justice;
               (3)  two members of the senate who are appointed by the
  lieutenant governor;
               (4)  the presiding officer of the House Committee on
  Criminal Jurisprudence;
               (5)  two members of the house of representatives who
  are appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;
               (6)  one member appointed by the chief justice of the
  supreme court; and
               (7)  one member appointed by the presiding judge of the
  court of criminal appeals.
         (c)  In making appointments under Subsections (b)(1), (3),
  and (5), the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the
  house of representatives shall coordinate to ensure that the
  membership of the commission reflects, to the extent possible, the
  ethnic, racial, and geographic diversity of this state.
         (d)  The governor shall designate the presiding officer of
  the commission.
         (e)  The commission shall meet at the call of the presiding
  officer and may hold public meetings as necessary to fulfill its
  duties under this article.
         (f)  A member of the commission is not entitled to
  compensation for service on the commission but is entitled to
  reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in
  performing commission duties. 
         (g)  The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
  System shall provide administrative support for the commission.
  Funding for the administrative and operational expenses of the
  commission, including any contracts or other engagements necessary
  for the development of a recommended validated pretrial risk
  assessment tool as described by Subsection (h)(1), shall be
  provided through an appropriation to the Office of Court
  Administration for that purpose.
         (h)  The commission shall, in coordination with the Office of
  Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System:
               (1)  develop a recommended validated pretrial risk
  assessment tool that is standardized for statewide use, that is
  available for use for purposes of Article 17.15(a)(6), and that:
                     (A)  is objective, validated for its intended use,
  and standardized; 
                     (B)  is based on an analysis of empirical data and
  risk factors relevant to:
                           (i)  the risk of a defendant failing to
  appear in court as required; and
                           (ii)  the safety of the community or the
  victim of the alleged offense if the defendant is released; and
                     (C)  does not consider factors that
  disproportionately affect persons who are members of racial or
  ethnic minority groups or who are socioeconomically disadvantaged;
               (2)  develop recommendations regarding best practices
  for personal bond offices to use for pretrial services authorized
  by Article 17.42;
               (3)  collect and analyze information related to
  pretrial release practices and distribute the analyses and
  information as a resource to courts, personal bond offices, and
  other relevant organizations; and
               (4)  collect information relating to defendants
  released on bail, including the rate of failure to appear,
  commission of new offenses, and other relevant information.
         (i)  Not later than March 1, 2020, the commission shall
  prepare a report containing the recommendations of the commission
  developed under this article, including the commission's
  recommended validated pretrial risk assessment tool, and shall
  deliver the report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, each
  member of the legislature, the chief justice of the supreme court,
  the presiding judge of the court of criminal appeals, and the Texas
  Judicial Council.
         (j)  The Texas Judicial Council shall review the report and
  may recommend to the commission changes to the tool consistent with
  the requirements of Subsection (h)(1). Any recommended changes
  must be submitted to the commission not later than June 1, 2020. If
  the council recommends changes to the tool, the commission shall
  revise the tool in accordance with the recommendations, prepare a
  report containing the recommended tool as revised, and deliver the
  report to the persons and entities listed in Subsection (i) not
  later than August 1, 2020.
         (k)  Not later than August 31, 2020, the Texas Judicial
  Council shall adopt either the validated pretrial risk assessment
  tool recommended by the commission under Subsection (i) or the
  revised tool recommended by the commission under Subsection (j).
         (l)  The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
  System shall provide the validated pretrial risk assessment tool
  adopted under Subsection (k) to magistrates in this state at no
  cost.
         (m)  Not later than January 1, 2023, the commission shall
  prepare a report regarding the implementation and use of the
  validated pretrial risk assessment tool adopted under Subsection
  (k) and its effect on pretrial recidivism rates and the rates at
  which defendants failed to appear in court as required and shall
  deliver the report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, each
  member of the legislature, the chief justice of the supreme court,
  the presiding judge of the court of criminal appeals, and the Texas
  Judicial Council.
         (n)  The commission is abolished effective September 1,
  2023.
         Art. 17.027.  AUTHORITY TO RELEASE ON BAIL IN CERTAIN CASES.
  (a)  Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by Article
  17.03(b), only a magistrate who meets the qualifications described
  by Subsection (b) may release on bail a defendant charged with an
  offense:
               (1)  punishable as a felony; or
               (2)  under Chapter 21 or 22, Penal Code, that is
  punishable as a Class B misdemeanor or any higher category of
  offense.
         (b)  To qualify to release on bail a defendant described by
  Subsection (a), a magistrate must:
               (1)  be a resident of this state and one of the counties
  in which the magistrate serves;
               (2)  have been licensed to practice law in this state
  for at least four years;
               (3)  not have been removed from office by impeachment,
  by the supreme court, by the governor on address to the legislature,
  by a tribunal reviewing a recommendation of the State Commission on
  Judicial Conduct, or by the legislature's abolition of the
  magistrate's court; and
               (4)  not have resigned from office after having
  received notice that formal proceedings by the State Commission on
  Judicial Conduct had been instituted as provided by Section 33.022,
  Government Code, and before final disposition of the proceedings.
         SECTION 3.  Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Article 17.028 to read as follows:
         Art. 17.028.  PRETRIAL RISK ASSESSMENT.  (a)  A magistrate
  considering the release on bail of a defendant charged with an
  offense punishable as a Class B misdemeanor or any higher category
  of offense shall order that:
               (1)  the personal bond office established under Article
  17.42 for the county in which the defendant is being detained, or
  other suitably trained person, use the validated pretrial risk
  assessment tool described by Article 17.15(a)(6) to conduct a
  pretrial risk assessment with respect to the defendant; and
               (2)  the results of the assessment be provided to the
  magistrate within 48 hours of the defendant's arrest.
         (b)  A magistrate may not, without the consent of the
  sheriff, order a sheriff or sheriff's department personnel to
  conduct a pretrial risk assessment under Subsection (a).
         (c)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a magistrate may
  personally conduct a pretrial risk assessment using the validated
  pretrial risk assessment tool described by Article 17.15(a)(6).
         (d)  The magistrate shall consider the results of the
  pretrial risk assessment before making a bail decision.
         SECTION 4.  Article 17.15, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Art. 17.15.  RULES FOR SETTING [FIXING] AMOUNT OF BAIL. (a)  
  The amount of bail to be required in any case is to be regulated by
  the court, judge, magistrate, or officer taking the bail in
  accordance with Articles 17.20, 17.21, and 17.22 and is [; they are
  to be] governed [in the exercise of this discretion] by the
  Constitution and [by] the following rules:
               (1) [1.]  The bail shall be sufficiently high to give
  reasonable assurance that the undertaking will be complied with.
               (2) [2.]  The power to require bail is not to be so used
  as to make it an instrument of oppression.
               (3) [3.]  The nature of the offense, [and] the
  circumstances under which the offense [it] was committed, and the
  defendant's criminal history, including acts of family violence,
  shall [are to] be considered.
               (4) [4.]  The ability to make bail shall [is to] be
  considered [regarded], and proof may be taken upon this point.
               (5) [5.]  The future safety of a victim of the alleged
  offense, peace officers, and the community shall be considered.
               (6)  The results of a pretrial risk assessment
  conducted using the validated pretrial risk assessment tool adopted
  for statewide use under Article 17.021(k) shall be considered.
               (7)  Any other relevant facts or circumstances may be
  considered.
         (b)  In this article, "family violence" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 71.004, Family Code.
         SECTION 5.  As soon as practicable but not later than
  September 1, 2020, the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
  Judicial System shall make available on the office's Internet
  website the validated pretrial risk assessment tool adopted under
  Article 17.021(k), Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this
  Act, and any related forms and materials. If those items are made
  available before September 1, 2020, the office shall notify each
  court clerk, judge or other magistrate, and office of an attorney
  representing the state.
         SECTION 6.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
  this section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only to a
  person who is arrested on or after September 1, 2020.
         (b)  Article 17.027, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by
  this Act, applies to a person who is arrested on or after September
  1, 2019.
         SECTION 7.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
  this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2020.
         (b)  Sections 2, 5, and 6 of this Act take effect September 1,
  2019.