HBA-RBT H.B. 49 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 49
By: Cuellar
Corrections
3/8/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)


BACKGROUND & PURPOSE 

Operating and maintaining jails is a costly endeavor, falling on state and
county taxpayers. Currently, inmates are not liable for the cost of their
incarceration in a county jail.  C.S.H.B. 49 makes these inmates
responsible for the cost of their incarceration.  

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 Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding
Article 42.038, as follows: 

Art.  42.038.  REIMBURSEMENT FOR CONFINEMENT EXPENSES.  (a) Authorizes a
court to require a defendant to reimburse the county for the cost of the
defendant's confinement at the rate of $30 per day when the court sentences
the defendant to a term of confinement in the county jail on a misdemeanor.

(b) Authorizes a court to require a defendant placed on deferred
adjudication for a misdemeanor, who must also submit to a period of
confinement on county jail as a condition of community supervision, to
reimburse the county for the defendant's confinement at a rate of $30 per
day.   

(c) Authorizes a court to order a defendant to reimburse the county only
for time served after the date of conviction or plea of guilty or nolo
contendere.  Prohibits the court from requiring reimbursement for time
served prior to the date of conviction or plea of guilty or nolo
contendere.   

(d) Requires the court to consider the defendant's employment status,
earning ability, and financial resources, and any other special
circumstances that affect the defendant's ability to pay, including any
financial responsibilities owed by the defendant to dependents or
restitution payments owed by the defendant to a victim, when determining
whether to order reimbursement under this article.   

(e) Requires the sheriff to give the defendant a bill upon the defendant's
release from confinement.  Requires the bill to be equal to $30 times the
number of days or portion of a day the defendant was confined.   

(f) Authorizes the court to require a defendant to reimburse the county
within a specified period which ends not later than five years after the
last day of confinement or the last day of a period of community
supervision if community supervision is ordered. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 2(b), Article 42.22, Code of Criminal Procedure,
to provide that the state has a restitution lien to secure the amount of
reimbursement for costs of confinement ordered under Article 42.038. 

 SECTION 3.  Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 4.  Effective date: September 1, 1999. 

SECTION 5.  Emergency clause.



COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The bill originally amended Section 501.0171, Government Code, and Section
104.002, Code of Criminal Procedure, to provide that an inmate of the
Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or of a
county jail was liable for the cost of the inmate's confinement, including
the cost of food, housing, and any program in which the inmate
participated.  C.S.H.B. 49 now amends Sections 42.038 and 42.22, Code of
Criminal Procedure, to provide that a county jail inmate serving time for a
misdemeanor may be required to reimburse the county at the rate of $30 per
day.