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BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

H.B. 1921

By: Dutton

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

Jailing economically disadvantaged defendants for certain unpaid fines and costs can have devastating consequences. H.B. 1921 seeks to help these defendants avoid these consequences and discharge fines and costs more quickly by increasing the amount that the defendants earn toward the payment of these fines and costs through labor and confinement.

 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

 

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

 

ANALYSIS

 

H.B. 1921 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to increase from $100 per day to $200 per day the rate at which manual labor of a defendant in a specified labor opportunity or confinement of a defendant in a county with no such labor opportunity is credited for purposes of satisfying a pecuniary fine for conviction of a misdemeanor or a fine imposed after conviction of a felony that the defendant is unable to pay. This increase applies to a defendant who is convicted of a misdemeanor on or after the bill's effective date, regardless of whether the misdemeanor was committed before, on, or after the bill's effective date. The bill increases from $150 per period served to $200 per period served the minimum rate at which a defendant who serves time in jail is credited for purposes of satisfying certain fines and costs the defendant fails to pay and the discharge of the defendant on habeas corpus. This increase applies to a defendant who is placed in jail on or after the bill's effective date, regardless of whether the offense for which the defendant was convicted was committed before, on, or after the bill's effective date.

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

September 1, 2023.