HBA-JEK, AMW H.B. 598 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 598
By: Goodman
Corrections
2/19/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The community justice assistance division (division) of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice allocates funds to community supervision and
corrections departments that supervise or help rehabilitate the 440,000
offenders in Texas who are currently serving sentences under community
supervision rather than in prison. These departments receive approximately
65 percent of their operating budgets from the Texas Legislature. They also
receive funds from their local governments and by collecting court-ordered
fees from offenders. The maximum fees collected from offenders have not
been increased for years, which has resulted in more costs for local
governments.  House Bill 598 increases the state funding period for each
misdemeanant defendant and raises the maximum monthly fees that local
governments charge defendants during their supervision period. 

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

House Bill 598 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to increase from $40
to $60 the maximum amount of a monthly fee that a defendant pays to the
court of record having original criminal jurisdiction during the community
supervision period.  The bill amends the Government Code to increase from
182 days to two years the maximum period of time that the community justice
assistance division is required to pay to a community supervision and
corrections department a per diem amount, for per capita funding, for each
misdemeanant defendant supervised by the department pursuant to lawful
authority.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.