Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2340 Compare Versions

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1	1	81R10277 HLT-F
2	2	By: Averitt S.B. No. 2340
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the electronic monitoring of certain defendants as an
8	8	alternative to confinement.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Article 42.035, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
11	11	amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to
12	12	read as follows:
13	13	(a) A court [in a county served by a community supervision
14	14	and corrections department that has an electronic monitoring
15	15	program approved by the community justice assistance division of
16	16	the Texas Department of Criminal Justice] may require a defendant
17	17	to serve all or part of a sentence of confinement in county jail by
18	18	participating in an [submitting to] electronic monitoring program
19	19	rather than being confined in the county jail, if the program:
20	20	(1) is operated by a community supervision and
21	21	corrections department that serves the county in which the court is
22	22	located and has been approved by the community justice assistance
23	23	division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; or
24	24	(2) is operated by the commissioners court of the
25	25	county, or by a private vendor under contract with the
26	26	commissioners court, under Section 351.904, Local Government Code,
27	27	if the defendant has not been placed on community supervision.
28	28	(e) A court may revoke a defendant's participation in an
29	29	electronic monitoring program and require the defendant to serve
30	30	the remainder of the defendant's sentence of confinement in county
31	31	jail if the defendant violates a condition imposed by a court under
32	32	this article, including a condition requiring the defendant to pay
33	33	for participating in the program under Subsection (c).
34	34	SECTION 2. Article 43.09(e), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
35	35	amended to read as follows:
36	36	(e) A court in a county that operates an electronic
37	37	monitoring program or contracts with a private vendor to operate an
38	38	electronic monitoring program under Section 351.904, Local
39	39	Government Code, or that is served by a community supervision and
40	40	corrections department that operates [has] an electronic
41	41	monitoring program approved by the community justice assistance
42	42	division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, may require a
43	43	defendant who is unable to pay a fine or costs to discharge all or
44	44	part of the fine or costs by participating in the program
45	45	[submitting to electronic monitoring]. A defendant who
46	46	participates in an [that submits to] electronic monitoring program
47	47	under this subsection discharges fines and costs in the same manner
48	48	as if the defendant were confined in county jail.
49	49	SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 351, Local Government
50	50	Code, is amended by adding Section 351.904 to read as follows:
51	51	Sec. 351.904. ELECTRONIC MONITORING PROGRAM. (a) A
52	52	commissioners court of a county may establish and operate an
53	53	electronic monitoring program for the purpose of monitoring
54	54	defendants required by a court of the county to participate in an
55	55	electronic monitoring program under:
56	56	(1) Article 43.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, to
57	57	discharge a fine or costs; or
58	58	(2) Article 42.035, Code of Criminal Procedure, as an
59	59	alternative to serving all or part of a sentence of confinement in
60	60	county jail.
61	61	(b) The commissioners court shall provide for the sheriff or
62	62	the community supervision and corrections department serving the
63	63	county, under an agreement with the commissioners court, to oversee
64	64	and operate, or if the program is operated by a private vendor under
65	65	Subsection (c), oversee the operation of, an electronic monitoring
66	66	program established under this section.
67	67	(c) A commissioners court may contract with a private vendor
68	68	to operate an electronic monitoring program under this section,
69	69	including by enrolling and tracking participants in the program and
70	70	performing periodic reviews with participants regarding compliance
71	71	with the program.
72	72	(d) A commissioners court may use money that a defendant is
73	73	ordered to pay to a county under Article 42.035(c), Code of Criminal
74	74	Procedure, to pay for the services of a private vendor that operates
75	75	an electronic monitoring program under Subsection (c).
76	76	(e) A commissioners court may subsidize all or part of the
77	77	cost of a defendant's participation in an electronic monitoring
78	78	program under this section if the defendant is indigent.
79	79	SECTION 4. Article 42.035(e), Code of Criminal Procedure,
80	80	as added by this Act, applies only to a defendant who is sentenced
81	81	to a term of confinement in county jail for an offense committed on
82	82	or after September 1, 2009. A defendant who is sentenced to a term
83	83	of confinement in county jail for an offense committed before
84	84	September 1, 2009, is governed by the law in effect when the offense
85	85	was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
86	86	purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
87	87	before September 1, 2009, if any element of the offense occurred
88	88	before that date.
89	89	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
90	90	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
91	91	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
92	92	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
93	93	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.