81R10277 HLT-F
By: Averitt S.B. No. 2340
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the electronic monitoring of certain defendants as an
alternative to confinement.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 42.035, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to
read as follows:
(a) A court [in a county served by a community supervision
and corrections department that has an electronic monitoring
program approved by the community justice assistance division of
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice] may require a defendant
to serve all or part of a sentence of confinement in county jail by
participating in an [submitting to] electronic monitoring program
rather than being confined in the county jail, if the program:
(1) is operated by a community supervision and
corrections department that serves the county in which the court is
located and has been approved by the community justice assistance
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; or
(2) is operated by the commissioners court of the
county, or by a private vendor under contract with the
commissioners court, under Section 351.904, Local Government Code,
if the defendant has not been placed on community supervision.
(e) A court may revoke a defendant's participation in an
electronic monitoring program and require the defendant to serve
the remainder of the defendant's sentence of confinement in county
jail if the defendant violates a condition imposed by a court under
this article, including a condition requiring the defendant to pay
for participating in the program under Subsection (c).
SECTION 2. Article 43.09(e), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) A court in a county that operates an electronic
monitoring program or contracts with a private vendor to operate an
electronic monitoring program under Section 351.904, Local
Government Code, or that is served by a community supervision and
corrections department that operates [has] an electronic
monitoring program approved by the community justice assistance
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, may require a
defendant who is unable to pay a fine or costs to discharge all or
part of the fine or costs by participating in the program
[submitting to electronic monitoring]. A defendant who
participates in an [that submits to] electronic monitoring program
under this subsection discharges fines and costs in the same manner
as if the defendant were confined in county jail.
SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 351, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 351.904 to read as follows:
Sec. 351.904. ELECTRONIC MONITORING PROGRAM. (a) A
commissioners court of a county may establish and operate an
electronic monitoring program for the purpose of monitoring
defendants required by a court of the county to participate in an
electronic monitoring program under:
(1) Article 43.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, to
discharge a fine or costs; or
(2) Article 42.035, Code of Criminal Procedure, as an
alternative to serving all or part of a sentence of confinement in
county jail.
(b) The commissioners court shall provide for the sheriff or
the community supervision and corrections department serving the
county, under an agreement with the commissioners court, to oversee
and operate, or if the program is operated by a private vendor under
Subsection (c), oversee the operation of, an electronic monitoring
program established under this section.
(c) A commissioners court may contract with a private vendor
to operate an electronic monitoring program under this section,
including by enrolling and tracking participants in the program and
performing periodic reviews with participants regarding compliance
with the program.
(d) A commissioners court may use money that a defendant is
ordered to pay to a county under Article 42.035(c), Code of Criminal
Procedure, to pay for the services of a private vendor that operates
an electronic monitoring program under Subsection (c).
(e) A commissioners court may subsidize all or part of the
cost of a defendant's participation in an electronic monitoring
program under this section if the defendant is indigent.
SECTION 4. Article 42.035(e), Code of Criminal Procedure,
as added by this Act, applies only to a defendant who is sentenced
to a term of confinement in county jail for an offense committed on
or after September 1, 2009. A defendant who is sentenced to a term
of confinement in county jail for an offense committed before
September 1, 2009, is governed 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 September 1, 2009, if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.