By: West S.B. No. 389
(Lewis)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the imposition of court costs in certain criminal
proceedings.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 51, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.608 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.608. IMPOSITION OF COURT COSTS IN CRIMINAL
PROCEEDINGS. Notwithstanding any other law that establishes the
amount of a court cost collected by the clerk of a district, county,
or statutory county court from a defendant in a criminal proceeding
based on the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
the amount of a court cost imposed on the defendant in a criminal
proceeding must be the amount established under the law in effect on
the date the defendant is convicted of the offense.
SECTION 2. Section 51.608, Government Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to a defendant convicted of an offense on or
after the effective date of this Act. A defendant convicted of an
offense before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect at the time of the conviction, 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, 2013.