HBA-JLV C.S.H.B. 2740 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2740 By: Turner, Bob Criminal Jurisprudence 4/17/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law authorizes the criminal justice division of the governor's office (CJD) to distribute money to eligible counties for the reimbursement of extraordinary costs incurred in the investigation and prosecution of capital murder cases. In rural counties, a capital murder trial and the automatic appeal that a conviction brings could put a significant strain on the county budget and perhaps even contribute to a county seeking a lesser charge against a defendant despite the prosecutor's belief that a charge of capital murder is warranted. Despite efforts by CJD to publicize the reimbursement program, only five counties applied for funding last year. There are concerns that the law authorizing the distribution of money to counties investigating capital murder cases is complicated and difficult to interpret and counties may have difficulty determining whether they are eligible for the funds. C.S.H.B. 2740 clarifies provisions relating to the distribution of money to eligible counties for the payment of extraordinary costs of prosecution for capital murder cases. 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. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2740 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize the criminal justice division of the governor's office (CJD) to distribute money appropriated by the legislature to counties for extraordinary expenses incurred for the investigation or prosecution of capital murder offenses (reimbursement program). The bill deletes eligibility provisions of the reimbursement program requiring a county to apply to CJD for the distribution of funds if: _the total amount of expenditures of the county exceeded the total amount of funds received by the county from all sources; or _the total amount of funds received by the county from all sources exceeded the total amount of expenditures of the county and the county incurred expenses for the investigation or prosecution of a capital murder offense that exceed five percent of the amount of that excess. The bill deletes provisions requiring the commissioners court of a county to submit a financial statement of the county for that fiscal year showing the total amount of funds received by the county, the total amount of expenditures of the county, and the total amount of expenses incurred by the county for the investigation or prosecution of a capital murder offense. The bill authorizes CJD to distribute money to a county for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by the county during the preceding or current fiscal year for the investigation or prosecution of a capital murder offense. The bill deletes the prohibition against the amount of the reimbursement to an eligible county exceeding an amount equal to five percent of the difference between the total amount of funds received by the county and the total amount of expenditures of the county during the fiscal year for which the application is made. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2740 conforms the bill to the style and format of the Texas Legislative Council.