HBA-NMO H.B. 2739 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2739 By: Junell Criminal Jurisprudence 4/16/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Crimestoppers groups are paying increased rewards associated with the implementation of an increased action campaign on behalf of crimestoppers. H.B. 2739 requires a person to pay $1 as a court cost on conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by fine only, and requires the comptroller to deposit 45 percent of the funds received to the credit of the crime stoppers assistance account in the general revenue fund and the remaining 55 percent of the funds in the general revenue fund. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Article 102.013, Code of Criminal Procedure, by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (d)-(l), as follows: Art. 102.013. COURT COSTS; CRIME STOPPERS ASSISTANCE ACCOUNT. (a) Requires the criminal justice division of the governor's office (division) to distribute all of the funds in the crime stoppers assistance account (account) attributable to the imposition of court costs under this article to crime stoppers organizations. Authorizes the division to use 10 percent of the funds in the account other than funds attributable to the imposition of court costs under this article for the operation of the toll-free telephone service under Section 414.012, Government Code, and requires the division to distribute the remainder of those funds only to crime stoppers organizations. Authorizes the division to adopt a budget and rules to implement the distribution of funds under this article. Makes conforming changes. (d) Requires a person to pay $1 as a court cost on conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by fine only, including a criminal violation of a municipal ordinance, other than a conviction for an offense relating to pedestrians or the parking of a motor vehicle. (e) Requires the court to assess and make a reasonable effort to collect the cost due under this article whether or not any other court cost is assessed or collected. (f) Provides that a person is considered to have been convicted, for the purposes of this article, if a sentence is imposed; the defendant receives community supervision or deferred adjudication; or the court defers final disposition of the case. (g) Provides that court costs under this article are collected in the same manner as other fines or costs. Requires an officer collecting the costs to keep separate records of the funds collected as costs under this article and deposit the funds in the county or municipal treasury, as appropriate. (h) Requires the custodian of a county or municipal treasury to keep records of the amount of funds on deposit collected under this article, and send to the comptroller before the last day of the first month following each calendar quarter the funds collected under this article during the preceding quarter. (i) Authorizes a county or municipality to retain 10 percent of the funds collected under this article by an officer of the county or municipality as a collection fee if the custodian of the county or municipal treasury complies with Subsection (h). (j) Requires the custodian of the treasury, if no funds due as costs under this article are deposited in a county or municipal treasury in a calendar quarter, to file the report required for the quarter in the regular manner and provides that the custodian must state that no funds were collected. (k) Requires the comptroller to deposit 45 percent of the funds received under this article to the credit of the crime stoppers assistance account in the general revenue fund and deposit 55 percent of the funds received under this article in the general revenue fund. (l) Provides that costs imposed under this article are in addition to all other costs due in a criminal case. SECTION 2. Amends Section 414.010(a), Government Code, to authorize a crime stoppers organization that receives funds from the criminal justice division of the governor's office that are designated by the division as being funds attributable to the imposition of court costs under Article 102.013, Code of Criminal Procedure to use the funds only to reward persons who report information concerning criminal activity. SECTION 3. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 5. Emergency clause.