Honorable Jeff Leach, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
FROM:
John McGeady, Assistant Director Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB4023 by Dominguez (Relating to the imposition of a supplemental court security fee on conviction of certain criminal offenses.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure and Government Code to impose a $1 supplemental court security fee on defendants whose sentence on conviction of a misdemeanor or felony offense includes a fine. Collections of this fee would be deposited in a county or municipal fund designated as the courthouse security fund, municipal court building security fund, or justice court building security fund, as appropriate. The bill requires that these funds only be used for security personnel, services, and items relate to buildings that house the operations of district, county, justice, or municipal courts.
Based on the analysis of the Office of Court Administration (OCA), duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be accomplished by utilizing existing resources.
Local Government Impact
According to OCA, this fee would most often be assessed in justice and municipal courts where punishment is by fine only. Based on information provided by OCA, it is estimated that this bill's provisions would result in an additional $3,552,959 in local revenue collected through Justice and Municipal Courts for Class C misdemeanor convictions, an additional $137,101 in additional local revenue collected through county-level courts for Class A and B misdemeanor convictions, and an additional $85,322 in additional local revenue through district courts for felony convictions.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts