BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 307

By: Vasut

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

In the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, the Texas Legislature passed H.B. 569, which increased the credit that a defendant receives toward fines or costs for each day the defendant remains in jail from $100 to $150. However, the credit awarded to a defendant for each eight hours of community service performed remained at $100, potentially incentivizing defendants, unintentionally, to remain in jail instead of pursuing community service. H.B. 307 seeks to rectify this disparity and make community service an equally valuable alternative to remaining in jail by similarly increasing that credit to $150.

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. 307 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to increase from $100 to $150 the amount of credit a defendant convicted of a misdemeanor or felony earns toward a fine assessed or imposed on the defendant for:

· each day the defendant works in the county jail industries program, in the workhouse, on the county farm, or on public improvements and maintenance projects;

· if there is no such county jail industries program, workhouse, farm, or projects, each day the defendant is confined in jail; and

· each eight hours of community service performed, if the defendant is unable to pay the fine or costs and required to perform community service by a court.

H.B. 307 increases from $100 to $150 the amount of the credit that is earned toward fines or costs for each eight hours of community service performed by the following defendants:

· a defendant required to perform community service by a justice or municipal court who either fails to pay a previously assessed fine or cost or is determined by the court to have insufficient resources or income to pay a fine or cost; and

· a defendant younger than 17 years of age who is assessed a fine or cost for any Class C misdemeanor.

H.B. 307 clarifies that the additional period of confinement for which a justice or judge is required to credit a defendant, in imposing a fine and costs in a fine-only misdemeanor case, includes any period the defendant was confined in jail or prison while awaiting trial for another offense if that confinement occurred after the commission of the misdemeanor.

H.B. 307 applies as follows:

· to a defendant who is confined or performs labor, or who performs community service, on or after the bill's effective date, regardless of whether the offense for which the fines or costs were imposed occurred before, on, or after the bill's effective date; and

· to a defendant who is sentenced for an offense on or after the bill's effective date, regardless of whether the offense was committed before, on, or after the bill's effective date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.