The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to limit release on personal bond by magistrates of defendants charged with committing a new offense while on bail or community supervision in another case involving violence or defendants previously convicted of a violent offense.
The bill would require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to provide certain training with respect to criminal history records to magistrates, judges, sheriffs, peace officers, and jailers.
Under the bill's provisions, the Office of Court Administration (OCA) would be required to promulgate a bail form to be completed by magistrates, judges, sheriffs, peace officers, and jailers each time bail is set. The bail form promulgated would have to state the requirements for setting bail under Article 17.15, include an affirmation that the person setting bail considered all of the information required under the article, and require the signature of the person setting bail. The bill would require the forms to be electronically returned to OCA for inclusion in a database that is publicly accessible on OCA's website.
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to regulate charitable organizations that solicit donations from the public for the purpose of posting bail bonds for defendants. The bill would impose certain filing and reporting requirements on such organizations. Under the bill's provisions, a charitable organization would not be able to post the bail for misdemeanor or felony offenders who are charged with or have been previously convicted of certain violent offenses. A sheriff would be able to suspend an organization's ability to post bail bonds if the organization violates a reporting requirement or other mandate of the bill.
The bill would amend Code of Criminal Procedure to expand the rules for fixing the amount of bail. Under the provisions of the bill, a magistrate or court would have to consider a defendant's criminal history and immigration status before setting bail.
The bill would impose educational requirements with respect to setting bail and other magistration duties on magistrates who set bail. The course would be required to be obtained through an accredited school of higher education or a program approved by a court education committee or through a course approved by the State Bar of Texas.
The bill would authorize the use of bail schedules under certain circumstances. Under the bill's provisions, a defendant unable to make bail in an amount required by the bail schedule would be entitled to file a sworn affidavit on a form promulgated by OCA indicating the defendant's financial situation and requesting the magistrate to set an appropriate bail. Defendants filing the affidavit would be entitled to a bail hearing before a magistrate no later than 48 hours after the affidavit was filed. The magistrate would be required to issue oral or written findings of fact supporting his or her bail decision.
The bill would require sheriffs, peace officers, and jailers to obtain a defendant's criminal history prior to accepting bail before appearance before a magistrate. The sheriff, peace officer, or jailer would be prohibited from accepting bail before appearance before a magistrate if the defendant is charged with a violent offense or has been previously convicted of a violent offense.
The bill would amend then Government Code to require county clerks of a court at law to report monthly certain information pertaining to bail bonds to the Texas Office of Court Administration. Under the provisions of the bill, a clerk would have to report the number of bail bonds given for each level of offense, the number and type of bail bonds given, the number of defendants posting bail, the number of defendants failing to reappear after release on bail, and the number of defendants committing new offenses while on bail.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2021.