Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB726 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Rodriguez, et al. S.B. No. 726
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed February 15, 2011; February 23, 2011,
3	3	read first time and referred to Committee on Finance;
4	4	April 11, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
5	5	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 3; April 11, 2011,
6	6	sent to printer.)
7	7	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 726 By: Zaffirini
8	8
9	9
10	10	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
11	11	AN ACT
12	12	relating to the establishment of the judicial access and
13	13	improvement account to provide funding for basic civil legal
14	14	services, indigent defense, and judicial technical support through
15	15	certain county service fees and court costs imposed to fund the
16	16	account.
17	17	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
18	18	SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Government Code, is
19	19	amended by adding Section 22.016 to read as follows:
20	20	Sec. 22.016. JUDICIAL ACCESS AND IMPROVEMENT ACCOUNT.
21	21	(a) The judicial access and improvement account is an account in
22	22	the general revenue fund.
23	23	(b) Subject to Subsection (d), money in the judicial access
24	24	and improvement account shall be appropriated only as provided by
25	25	this section. The supreme court may use an amount determined by the
26	26	supreme court, which annually may not exceed $12 million, to phase
27	27	in electronic filing and retrieval in courts in this state. The
28	28	supreme court annually may use up to $1 million of the appropriated
29	29	money to provide state law library services. The remainder of the
30	30	money in the account shall be divided as follows:
31	31	(1) an amount equal to 70 percent of the remainder
32	32	shall be deposited to the credit of the basic civil legal services
33	33	account of the judicial fund established under Section 51.943 for
34	34	use in programs approved by the supreme court that provide basic
35	35	civil legal services to indigents; and
36	36	(2) an amount equal to 30 percent of the remainder
37	37	shall be deposited to the credit of the fair defense account
38	38	established under Section 71.058.
39	39	(c) The supreme court in consultation with the Judicial
40	40	Committee on Information Technology may enter into an agreement
41	41	with the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
42	42	System to implement the electronic filing and retrieval in courts
43	43	of this state authorized under Subsection (b), including acquiring
44	44	the necessary technology, software, and data storage.
45	45	(d) The comptroller may retain two percent of the money
46	46	remitted to the comptroller for deposit in the judicial access and
47	47	improvement account. The comptroller shall use the money to audit
48	48	fund balances and to ensure the timely deposit of money in accounts
49	49	as required by this section.
50	50	(e) Section 403.095 does not apply to money dedicated under
51	51	this section.
52	52	SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 102, Government Code, is
53	53	amended by adding Section 102.1035 to read as follows:
54	54	Sec. 102.1035. ADDITIONAL COURT COSTS ON CONVICTION IN
55	55	JUSTICE COURT: LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE. A clerk of a justice court
56	56	shall collect from a defendant a court cost of $10 under Section
57	57	133.108, Local Government Code, on conviction of an offense, other
58	58	than an offense relating to a pedestrian or the parking of a motor
59	59	vehicle.
60	60	SECTION 3. Subchapter G, Chapter 102, Government Code, is
61	61	amended by adding Section 102.1215 to read as follows:
62	62	Sec. 102.1215. ADDITIONAL COURT COSTS ON CONVICTION IN
63	63	MUNICIPAL COURT: LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE. A clerk of a municipal
64	64	court shall collect from a defendant a court cost of $10 under
65	65	Section 133.108, Local Government Code, on conviction of an
66	66	offense, other than an offense relating to a pedestrian or the
67	67	parking of a motor vehicle.
68	68	SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 403, Government Code, is
69	69	amended by adding Section 403.0306 to read as follows:
70	70	Sec. 403.0306. FEES AND COSTS ASSESSED FOR JUDICIAL ACCESS
71	71	AND IMPROVEMENT ACCOUNT. Notwithstanding any other law, if in any
72	72	state fiscal biennium the legislature:
73	73	(1) does not appropriate any money to the judicial
74	74	access and improvement account for the purposes provided by Section
75	75	22.016:
76	76	(A) the comptroller and the Office of Court
77	77	Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall notify each
78	78	county clerk and each clerk of a justice or municipal court, as
79	79	appropriate, not to assess fees and court costs under Sections
80	80	102.1035 and 102.1215 of this code and Sections 118.011(g) and
81	81	133.108, Local Government Code, during the state fiscal biennium;
82	82	and
83	83	(B) a county clerk or clerk of a justice or
84	84	municipal court may not assess fees and court costs under Sections
85	85	102.1035 and 102.1215 of this code and Sections 118.011(g) and
86	86	133.108, Local Government Code, during the state fiscal biennium;
87	87	or
88	88	(2) appropriates only a portion of the money to the
89	89	judicial access and improvement account for the purposes provided
90	90	by Section 22.016:
91	91	(A) the comptroller and the Office of Court
92	92	Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall:
93	93	(i) proportionally adjust the amount of the
94	94	fees and court costs to be assessed under Sections 102.1035 and
95	95	102.1215 of this code and Sections 118.011(g) and 133.108, Local
96	96	Government Code, during the state fiscal biennium; and
97	97	(ii) notify each county clerk and each
98	98	clerk of a justice or municipal court, as appropriate, of the amount
99	99	of the fees and court costs to be assessed under Sections 102.1035
100	100	and 102.1215 of this code and Sections 118.011(g) and 133.108,
101	101	Local Government Code, during the state fiscal biennium; and
102	102	(B) a county clerk or clerk of a justice or
103	103	municipal court shall assess the amount of the fees and court costs
104	104	determined by the comptroller under Paragraph (A) during the state
105	105	fiscal biennium.
106	106	SECTION 5. Section 118.011, Local Government Code, is
107	107	amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
108	108	(g) In addition to any other fee collected under this
109	109	section, the county clerk of a county shall collect a document
110	110	recording fee of $2 at the time of the filing of a document in the
111	111	records of the office of the clerk. The clerk shall send the fee to
112	112	the comptroller for deposit as provided by Section 22.016,
113	113	Government Code, except the clerk may retain five percent of the
114	114	money collected as a fee under this subsection.
115	115	SECTION 6. Section 133.003, Local Government Code, is
116	116	amended to read as follows:
117	117	Sec. 133.003. CRIMINAL FEES. This chapter applies to the
118	118	following criminal fees:
119	119	(1) the consolidated fee imposed under Section
120	120	133.102;
121	121	(2) the time payment fee imposed under Section
122	122	133.103;
123	123	(3) fees for services of peace officers employed by
124	124	the state imposed under Article 102.011, Code of Criminal
125	125	Procedure, and forwarded to the comptroller as provided by Section
126	126	133.104;
127	127	(4) costs on conviction imposed in certain statutory
128	128	county courts under Section 51.702, Government Code, and deposited
129	129	in the judicial fund;
130	130	(5) costs on conviction imposed in certain county
131	131	courts under Section 51.703, Government Code, and deposited in the
132	132	judicial fund;
133	133	(6) the administrative fee for failure to appear or
134	134	failure to pay or satisfy a judgment imposed under Section 706.006,
135	135	Transportation Code;
136	136	(7) fines on conviction imposed under Section
137	137	621.506(g), Transportation Code;
138	138	(8) the fee imposed under Article 102.0045, Code of
139	139	Criminal Procedure;
140	140	(9) the cost on conviction imposed under Section
141	141	133.105 and deposited in the judicial fund; [and]
142	142	(10) the cost on conviction imposed under Section
143	143	133.107; and
144	144	(11) the cost on conviction imposed under Section
145	145	133.108.
146	146	SECTION 7. Section 133.058, Local Government Code, is
147	147	amended by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
148	148	(c-1) A municipality or county may retain five percent of
149	149	the money collected as a fee under Section 133.108.
150	150	SECTION 8. Subchapter C, Chapter 133, Local Government
151	151	Code, is amended by adding Section 133.108 to read as follows:
152	152	Sec. 133.108. FEE FOR JUDICIAL ACCESS AND IMPROVEMENT.
153	153	(a) A person convicted in a municipal or justice court of an
154	154	offense, other than an offense relating to a pedestrian or the
155	155	parking of a motor vehicle, shall pay as a court cost, in addition
156	156	to other costs, a fee of $10 to be used to fund basic civil legal
157	157	services and criminal defense for indigents and electronic filing
158	158	in courts in this state through the judicial access and improvement
159	159	account established under Section 22.016, Government Code.
160	160	(b) The treasurer shall remit the fees collected under this
161	161	section to the comptroller in the manner provided by Subchapter B.
162	162	The comptroller shall credit the remitted fees to the credit of the
163	163	judicial access and improvement account established under Section
164	164	22.016, Government Code.
165	165	SECTION 9. (a) Section 51.607, Government Code, does not
166	166	apply to the imposition of a court cost or fee under this Act.
167	167	(b) If this Act receives a vote of two-thirds of all members
168	168	elected to each house as required for immediate effect, the change
169	169	in law made by this Act applies to the costs imposed on or after
170	170	September 1, 2011, for conviction of an offense that occurs on or
171	171	after the effective date of this Act. If this Act does not receive a
172	172	vote of two-thirds of all members elected to each house, the change
173	173	in law made by this Act applies to the costs imposed on or after
174	174	January 1, 2012, for conviction of an offense that occurs on or
175	175	after September 1, 2011.
176	176	(c) For purposes of Subsection (b) of this section, an
177	177	offense is committed before the date specified by that subsection
178	178	if any element of the offense occurs before the specified date.
179	179	Court costs imposed on conviction of an offense committed before
180	180	that specified date are governed by the law in effect on the date
181	181	the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect
182	182	for that purpose.
183	183	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect immediately if it
184	184	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
185	185	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
186	186	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
187	187	effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
188	188	* * * * *