LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 82ND LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION April 28, 2011 TO: Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence FROM: John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE:HB278 by Alonzo (Relating to pretrial hearings in criminal cases. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to require a court to hold a pretrial hearing at the defendants request at least 30 days prior to trial, provided the state or the defendant requests the hearing at least 60 days before the trial commences. According to the Office of Court Administration (OCA), under current law a court has the discretion to set any criminal case for a pretrial hearing. To the extent the bill would result in additional pretrial hearings, the states portion of costs for trial court operations, in most instances limited to funding for salaries of district court judges, is not likely to be affected. Accordingly, although the bill amendments may result in additional local costs, the overall impact to the states portion of court costs is not anticipated to be significant. The bill would take effect September 1, 2011. Local Government Impact Counties reported that there would be no significant impact associated with the bill. While cases involving pretrial could be significantly more costly, counties do not anticipate a substantial number of defendants requesting pretrial hearings and hence do not anticipate a significant fiscal impact. Source Agencies:212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council LBB Staff: JOB, TB, ESi, KKR LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 82ND LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION April 28, 2011 TO: Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence FROM: John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE:HB278 by Alonzo (Relating to pretrial hearings in criminal cases. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted TO: Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence FROM: John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB278 by Alonzo (Relating to pretrial hearings in criminal cases. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board HB278 by Alonzo (Relating to pretrial hearings in criminal cases. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted HB278 by Alonzo (Relating to pretrial hearings in criminal cases. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to require a court to hold a pretrial hearing at the defendants request at least 30 days prior to trial, provided the state or the defendant requests the hearing at least 60 days before the trial commences. According to the Office of Court Administration (OCA), under current law a court has the discretion to set any criminal case for a pretrial hearing. To the extent the bill would result in additional pretrial hearings, the states portion of costs for trial court operations, in most instances limited to funding for salaries of district court judges, is not likely to be affected. Accordingly, although the bill amendments may result in additional local costs, the overall impact to the states portion of court costs is not anticipated to be significant. The bill would take effect September 1, 2011. Local Government Impact Counties reported that there would be no significant impact associated with the bill. While cases involving pretrial could be significantly more costly, counties do not anticipate a substantial number of defendants requesting pretrial hearings and hence do not anticipate a significant fiscal impact. Counties reported that there would be no significant impact associated with the bill. While cases involving pretrial could be significantly more costly, counties do not anticipate a substantial number of defendants requesting pretrial hearings and hence do not anticipate a significant fiscal impact. Source Agencies: 212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council 212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council LBB Staff: JOB, TB, ESi, KKR JOB, TB, ESi, KKR