By: Canales (Senate Sponsor - Hinojosa) H.B. No. 2448

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2021; May 17, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence; May 21, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 21, 2021, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the verification of the incarceration of an accused person in a criminal case for the purpose of discharging a surety's liability on a bail bond.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Article 17.16(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A surety may before forfeiture relieve the surety of the surety's undertaking by:

(1) surrendering the accused into the custody of the sheriff of the county where the prosecution is pending; or

(2) delivering to the sheriff of the county in which the prosecution is pending and to the office of the prosecuting attorney an affidavit stating that the accused is incarcerated in:

(A) federal custody[, subject to Subsection (a-1)];

(B) the custody of any state; or

(C) any county of this state.

SECTION 2. Article 17.16(a-1), Code of Criminal Procedure, is repealed.

SECTION 3. Article 17.16, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act, applies only to a bail bond that is executed on or after the effective date of this Act. A bail bond executed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the bail bond was executed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.

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