By: White H.B. No. 2707
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the manner in which a bail bond or personal bond is
forfeited.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 22.02, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 22.02. MANNER OF TAKING A FORFEITURE. Bail bonds and
personal bonds are forfeited in the following manner: The name of
the defendant shall be called distinctly at the courthouse door,
and if the defendant does not appear within a reasonable time after
such call is made, judgment shall be entered that the State of Texas
recover of the defendant the amount of money in which the defendant
[he] is bound, and of the defendant's [his] sureties, if any, the
amount of money in which the sureties [they] are respectively
bound, and the [which] judgment shall state that the judgment
[same] will be made final, unless good cause be shown why the
defendant did not appear. For purposes of this article, a
reasonable time is presumed to be not less than 72 hours.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a bail bond or personal bond executed on or after the effective
date of this Act. A bail bond or personal bond executed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
bond was executed, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.