81R11184 JRH-D
By: Ellis S.B. No. 2281
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of a public defender subaccount in the fair
defense account of the general revenue fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 71, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 71.064 to read as follows:
Sec. 71.064. PUBLIC DEFENDER SUBACCOUNT. (a) The
comptroller shall create a subaccount in the fair defense account
to hold funds transferred to the fair defense account under:
(1) Article 102.0045, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(2) Section 81.054; and
(3) Section 133.107, Local Government Code.
(b) Interest earned on money in the subaccount shall be
deposited to the credit of the subaccount.
(c) The Task Force on Indigent Defense shall direct the
comptroller to distribute funds, including grants, to counties to
support the establishment and operation of a public defender's
office. The Task Force on Indigent Defense may not direct the
comptroller to distribute funds from the public defender subaccount
unless the county or counties applying for funds under this section
submit a proposal that includes:
(1) the information required under Article 26.044(c),
Code of Criminal Procedure;
(2) as consistent with recognized national policies
and standards, policies and standards governing training and the
maximum allowable caseload for attorneys employed by the public
defender's office;
(3) as consistent with recognized national policies
and standards, policies and standards governing training and
workload for licensed investigators and support personnel employed
by the public defender's office; and
(4) for a county that has established a public
defender's office, documentation that demonstrates compliance with
the policies and standards described by Subdivisions (2) and (3).
(d) A county may not reduce the amount of funds provided for
indigent defense services in the county because of funds provided
by the Task Force on Indigent Defense under this section.
SECTION 2. Section 81.054(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Fees shall be paid to the clerk of the supreme court.
The clerk shall retain the fees, other than fees collected under
Subsection (j), until distributed to the state bar for expenditure
under the direction of the supreme court to administer this
chapter. The clerk shall retain the fees collected under
Subsection (j) until distribution is approved by an order of the
supreme court. In ordering that distribution, the supreme court
shall order that the fees collected under Subsection (j) be
remitted to the comptroller at least as frequently as quarterly.
The comptroller shall credit 50 percent of the remitted fees to the
credit of the judicial fund for programs approved by the supreme
court that provide basic civil legal services to the indigent and
shall credit the remaining 50 percent of the remitted fees to the
fair defense account in the general revenue fund which is
established under Section 71.058, to be used, subject to all
requirements of Sections [Section] 71.062 and 71.064, for
[demonstration or pilot] projects that develop and promote best
practices for the efficient delivery of quality representation to
indigent defendants in criminal cases at trial, on appeal, and in
postconviction proceedings.
SECTION 3. The requirement that certain funds transferred
to the fair defense account in the general revenue fund be deposited
to the credit of the public defender subaccount in accordance with
Section 71.064, Government Code, as added by this Act, applies only
to funds transferred to the fair defense account on or after the
effective date of this Act. Funds transferred before the effective
date of this Act are governed by the law in effect when the funds
were transferred, and the former law continues in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.