85R3459 AJZ-D
By: Huffines S.B. No. 662
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the reporting of proceeds and property from asset
forfeiture proceedings under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 59.06(g)(1), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(1) All law enforcement agencies and attorneys
representing the state who receive proceeds or property under this
chapter shall account for the seizure, forfeiture, receipt, and
specific expenditure of all the proceeds and property in an audit,
which is to be performed annually by the commissioners court or
governing body of a municipality, as appropriate. The annual
period of the audit for a law enforcement agency is the fiscal year
of the appropriate county or municipality and the annual period for
an attorney representing the state is the state fiscal year. The
audit must be completed on a form provided by the attorney general
and must include a detailed report and explanation of all
expenditures, including salaries and overtime pay, officer
training, investigative equipment and supplies, and other items.
The audit must also include a detailed report that itemizes all
seizures of proceeds or property under this chapter and that
indicates the specific criminal offense on which each seizure was
based and, if charges were brought in connection with the offense,
the disposition of those charges. Certified copies of the audit
shall be delivered by the law enforcement agency or attorney
representing the state to the attorney general not later than the
60th day after the date on which the annual period that is the
subject of the audit ends.
SECTION 2. Article 59.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (g-1) to read as follows:
(g-1) Not later than February 1 of each year, the attorney
general shall publish a report summarizing the results of the
audits received during the preceding calendar year. The attorney
general shall make the report available to the public on the
attorney general's Internet website.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act in amending
Article 59.06(g)(1), Code of Criminal Procedure, apply to any audit
performed under that subdivision on or after the effective date of
this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.