82R8219 SJM-F
By: Whitmire S.B. No. 881
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the liability of a criminal defendant and the
defendant's sureties on a personal bond or bail bond.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 22.13(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The following causes, and no other, will exonerate the
defendant and his sureties, if any, from liability upon the
forfeiture taken:
1. That the bond is, for any cause, not a valid and
binding undertaking in law. If it be valid and binding as to the
principal, and one or more of his sureties, if any, they shall not
be exonerated from liability because of its being invalid and not
binding as to another surety or sureties, if any. If it be invalid
and not binding as to the principal, each of the sureties, if any,
shall be exonerated from liability. If it be valid and binding as
to the principal, but not so as to the sureties, if any, the
principal shall not be exonerated, but the sureties, if any, shall
be.
2. The death of the principal before the entry of the
final judgement [the forfeiture was taken].
3. The sickness of the principal or some
uncontrollable circumstance which prevented his appearance at
court, and it must, in every such case, be shown that his failure to
appear arose from no fault on his part. The causes mentioned in
this subdivision shall not be deemed sufficient to exonerate the
principal and his sureties, if any, unless such principal appear
before final judgment on the bond to answer the accusation against
him, or show sufficient cause for not so appearing.
4. Failure to present an indictment or information at
the first term of the court which may be held after the principal
has been admitted to bail, in case where the party was bound over
before indictment or information, and the prosecution has not been
continued by order of the court.
5. The incarceration of the principal in any
jurisdiction in the United States:
(A) in the case of a misdemeanor, at the time of
or not later than the 180th day after the date of the principal's
failure to appear in court; or
(B) in the case of a felony, at the time of or not
later than the 270th day after the date of the principal's failure
to appear in court.
6. The voluntary or involuntary deportation or removal
of the principal from any jurisdiction of the United States by or as
directed by a federal agency.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a personal bond or bail bond executed on or after the effective
date of this Act. A personal bond or bail bond executed before the
effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the
personal bond or bail bond was executed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. 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, 2011.