86R3114 SRS-D
By: Moody H.B. No. 1021
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a prohibition on the imposition of court costs and
filing or other fees on certain indigent defendants and plaintiffs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle I, Title 2, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 104 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 104. COURT COSTS AND FILING AND OTHER FEES IN CIVIL AND
CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
Sec. 104.001. WAIVING COURT COSTS AND FILING AND OTHER FEES
FOR INDIGENTS. (a) In this section, "indigent" means an individual
whose household income is at or below 125 percent of the federal
poverty guidelines as determined by the United States Department of
Health and Human Services.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 101.001, 102.001, 103.001, or
any other law, a judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of
criminal appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, a criminal
district court, a constitutional county court, a statutory county
court, a justice court, or a municipal court, in a civil or criminal
proceeding before the court, who finds that the defendant or
plaintiff in the proceeding is indigent shall waive all court
costs, including costs on conviction, and all filing fees and other
fees imposed by law on the indigent defendant or plaintiff.
(c) This section does not apply to a proceeding filed by the
state's Title IV-D agency for an individual to whom the agency is
providing services authorized under Chapter 231, Family Code.
SECTION 2. Chapter 104, Government Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to court costs and filing and other fees imposed
in a civil or criminal proceeding commenced on or after the
effective date of this Act. Court costs and filing and other fees
imposed in a civil or criminal proceeding commenced before the
effective date of this Act are governed by the law in effect on the
date the proceeding was commenced, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.