| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the payment of certain fines and court costs by an |
|
|
inmate during a term of imprisonment or following release from the |
|
|
Texas Department of Criminal Justice. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Article 42.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 17 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 17. In addition to the information described by |
|
|
Section 1, the judgment must reflect the inmate's right under |
|
|
Article 42.153 to defer payment of certain fines and court costs |
|
|
owed to the state. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
|
|
amended by adding Article 42.153 to read as follows: |
|
|
Art. 42.153. DEFERRED PAYMENT OF CERTAIN FINES AND COURT |
|
|
COSTS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a person |
|
|
sentenced to imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal |
|
|
Justice is not required to pay any fines or court costs owed to the |
|
|
state: |
|
|
(1) during the term of imprisonment, including while |
|
|
the person is confined in a county jail awaiting transfer to the |
|
|
department; or |
|
|
(2) before the 181st day after the person's release: |
|
|
(A) following completion of the person's |
|
|
sentence; or |
|
|
(B) on parole or to mandatory supervision. |
|
|
(b) Not later than the 30th day following the person's |
|
|
release as described by Subsection (a)(2), the person shall contact |
|
|
the clerk of the court in each jurisdiction where the person owes |
|
|
fines or court costs and enter into a payment plan with the clerk of |
|
|
the court. |
|
|
(c) This section does not apply to amounts owed for |
|
|
restitution or to amounts owed for supervision fees assessed as a |
|
|
condition of release. |
|
|
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies to a |
|
|
defendant who is sentenced for an offense on or after the effective |
|
|
date of this Act, regardless of whether the offense is committed |
|
|
before, on, or after that date. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |