81R4540 HLT-D
By: Herrero H.B. No. 1506
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to conditions of release on bond for certain defendants
charged with an offense involving family violence.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 17.49 to read as follows:
Art. 17.49. CONDITIONS FOR DEFENDANT CHARGED WITH OFFENSE
INVOLVING FAMILY VIOLENCE. (a) In this article:
(1) "Family violence" has the meaning assigned by
Section 71.004, Family Code.
(2) "Global positioning monitoring system" means a
system that electronically determines and reports the location of
an individual through the use of a transmitter or similar device
carried or worn by the individual that transmits latitude and
longitude data to a monitoring entity through global positioning
satellite technology. The term does not include a system that
contains or operates global positioning system technology, radio
frequency identification technology, or any other similar
technology that is implanted in or otherwise invades or violates
the individual's body.
(b) A magistrate may require as a condition of release on
bond that a defendant charged with an offense involving family
violence:
(1) refrain from going to or near a residence, school,
place of employment, or other location, as specifically described
in the bond, frequented by an alleged victim of the offense;
(2) carry or wear a global positioning monitoring
system device and, except as provided by Subsection (h), pay the
costs associated with operating that system in relation to the
defendant; or
(3) if the alleged victim of the offense consents
after receiving the information described by Subsection (d) and,
except as provided by Subsection (h), pay the costs associated with
providing the victim with an electronic receptor device that:
(A) is capable of receiving the global
positioning monitoring system information from the device carried
or worn by the defendant; and
(B) notifies the victim if the defendant is at or
near a location that the defendant has been ordered to refrain from
going to or near under Subdivision (1).
(c) Before imposing a condition described by Subsection
(b)(1), a magistrate must afford an alleged victim an opportunity
to provide the magistrate with a list of areas from which the victim
would like the defendant excluded and shall consider the victim's
request, if any, in determining the locations the defendant will be
ordered to refrain from going to or near. If the magistrate imposes
a condition described by Subsection (b)(1), the magistrate shall
specifically describe the locations that the defendant has been
ordered to refrain from going to or near and the minimum distances,
if any, that the defendant must maintain from those locations.
(d) Before imposing a condition described by Subsection
(b)(3), a magistrate must provide to an alleged victim information
regarding:
(1) the victim's right to participate in a global
positioning monitoring system or to refuse to participate in that
system and the procedure for requesting that the magistrate
terminate the victim's participation;
(2) the manner in which the global positioning
monitoring system technology functions and the risks and
limitations of that technology, and the extent to which the system
will track and record the victim's location and movements;
(3) any locations that the defendant is ordered to
refrain from going to or near and the minimum distances, if any,
that the defendant must maintain from those locations;
(4) any sanctions that the court may impose on the
defendant for violating a condition of bond imposed under this
article;
(5) the procedure that the victim is to follow, and
support services available to assist the victim, if the defendant
violates a condition of bond or if the global positioning
monitoring system equipment fails;
(6) community services available to assist the victim
in obtaining shelter, counseling, education, child care, legal
representation, and other assistance available to address the
consequences of family violence; and
(7) the fact that the victim's communications with the
court concerning the global positioning monitoring system and any
restrictions to be imposed on the defendant's movements are not
confidential.
(e) In addition to the information described by Subsection
(d), a magistrate shall provide to an alleged victim who
participates in a global positioning monitoring system under this
article the name and telephone number of an appropriate person
employed by a local law enforcement agency who the victim may call
to request immediate assistance if the defendant violates a
condition of bond imposed under this article.
(f) In determining whether to order a defendant's
participation in a global positioning monitoring system under this
article, the magistrate shall consider the likelihood that the
defendant's participation will deter the defendant from seeking to
kill, physically injure, stalk, or otherwise threaten the alleged
victim before trial.
(g) An alleged victim may request that the magistrate
terminate the victim's participation in a global positioning
monitoring system at any time. The magistrate may not impose
sanctions on the victim for requesting termination of the victim's
participation in or refusing to participate in a global positioning
monitoring system under this article.
(h) A magistrate may allow a defendant to perform community
service in lieu of paying the costs required by Subsection (b)(2) or
(3) if the magistrate determines that the defendant is indigent.
(i) A magistrate that imposes a condition described by
Subsection (b)(1) or (2) shall order the entity that operates the
global positioning monitoring system to notify the court and the
appropriate local law enforcement agency if a defendant violates a
condition of bond imposed under this article.
(j) This article does not limit the authority of a
magistrate to impose any other reasonable conditions of bond or
enter any orders of protection under other applicable statutes.
SECTION 2. Article 17.49, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
added by this Act, applies only to a defendant released on bond in
connection with an offense committed on or after the effective date
of this Act. A defendant released on bond in connection with an
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered
by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this
Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.