87R3250 ANG-D
By: Crockett H.B. No. 1177
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a prohibition on the imposition of court costs and
filing, reimbursement, 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, REIMBURSEMENT, AND OTHER FEES
IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE INDIGENT
Sec. 104.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter 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.
Sec. 104.002. INDIGENCY DETERMINATION. For purposes of
this chapter, an individual is indigent if:
(1) the individual's household income is at or below
200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines as determined by the
United States Department of Health and Human Services;
(2) the individual or the individual's dependent is
determined to be financially eligible to receive legal services
from a nonprofit organization funded partly by the Texas Access to
Justice Foundation or the Legal Services Corporation;
(3) the individual or the individual's dependent is
eligible based on the individual's financial means to receive a
benefit from a government program, including:
(A) the supplemental nutrition assistance
program under Chapter 33, Human Resources Code;
(B) the national school lunch program of free or
reduced-price meals;
(C) the federal special supplemental nutrition
program for women, infants, and children authorized by 42 U.S.C.
Section 1786;
(D) the Medicaid program under Chapter 32, Human
Resources Code;
(E) the child health plan program operated under
Chapter 62, Health and Safety Code;
(F) the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
program under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code;
(G) Supplemental Security Income benefits under
42 U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq.;
(H) publicly financed or subsidized housing;
(I) subsidized child-care services;
(J) the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance
Program; or
(K) the federal earned income tax credit; or
(4) the individual filed a statement of inability to
afford payment of court costs in a civil matter in accordance with
the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and was not ordered to pay court
costs based on a finding that the individual cannot afford to pay
the court costs.
Sec. 104.003. WAIVER OF COURT COSTS AND OTHER FEES FOR
INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE INDIGENT. 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 an individual
who is indigent shall waive all court costs, including costs on
conviction, and all filing fees, reimbursement fees, and other fees
imposed by law on the individual.
SECTION 2. Chapter 104, Government Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to court costs and filing, reimbursement, and
other fees imposed in a civil or criminal proceeding commenced on or
after the effective date of this Act. Court costs and filing,
reimbursement, 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, 2021.