H.B. No. 295
AN ACT
relating to the provision of funding for indigent defense services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 79.037(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall:
(1) provide technical support to:
(A) assist counties in improving their systems
for providing indigent defense services, including indigent
defense support services [systems]; and
(B) promote compliance by counties with the
requirements of state law relating to indigent defense;
(2) to assist a county in providing or improving the
provision of indigent defense services in the county, distribute in
the form of grants any funds appropriated for the purposes of this
section to one or more of the following entities:
(A) the county;
(B) a law school's legal clinic or program that
provides indigent defense services in the county; [and]
(C) a regional public defender that meets the
requirements of Subsection (e) and provides indigent defense
services in the county; [and]
(D) an entity described by Section 791.013 that
provides to a county administrative services under an interlocal
contract entered into for the purpose of providing or improving the
provision of indigent defense services in the county; and
(E) a nonprofit corporation that provides
indigent defense services or indigent defense support services in
the county; and
(3) monitor each entity that receives a grant under
Subdivision (2) and enforce compliance with the conditions of the
grant, including enforcement by:
(A) withdrawing grant funds; or
(B) requiring reimbursement of grant funds by the
entity.
SECTION 2. Section 79.037(b), Government Code, as amended
by Chapters 56 (S.B. 1353) and 476 (S.B. 1057), Acts of the 84th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
(b) The commission shall determine for each county the
entity or entities [within the county] that are eligible to receive
funds for the provision of or improvement in the provision of
indigent defense services under Subsection (a)(2). The
determination must be made based on the entity's:
(1) compliance with standards adopted by the board;
and
(2) demonstrated commitment to compliance with the
requirements of state law relating to indigent defense.
SECTION 3. Section 79.037(c), Government Code, as amended
by Chapters 56 (S.B. 1353) and 476 (S.B. 1057), Acts of the 84th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted to read as
follows:
(c) The board shall adopt policies to ensure that funds
under Subsection (a)(2) are allocated and distributed in a fair
manner.
SECTION 4. Section 26.0442(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) In this section, "indigent defense compensation
expenditures" for a tax year means the difference between:
(1) the amount paid by a county in the period beginning
on July 1 of the tax year preceding the tax year for which the tax is
adopted and ending on June 30 of the tax year for which the tax is
adopted to:
(A) provide appointed counsel for indigent
individuals in criminal or civil proceedings in accordance with the
schedule of fees adopted under Article 26.05, Code of Criminal
Procedure; and
(B) fund the operations of a public defender's
office under Article 26.044, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(2) [, in the period beginning on July 1 of the tax
year preceding the tax year for which the tax is adopted and ending
on June 30 of the tax year for which the tax is adopted, less] the
amount of any state grants received by the county during that period
for those purposes [the same purpose].
SECTION 5. Section 79.037(e), Government Code, as added by
Chapter 56 (S.B. 1353), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2015, is repealed.
SECTION 6. Section 26.0442, Tax Code, as amended by this
Act, applies to the calculation of the no-new-revenue maintenance
and operations rate for a county only for a tax year beginning on or
after January 1, 2022.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 295 was passed by the House on April
22, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 147, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 295 on May 28, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 148, Nays 0, 1
present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 295 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor