Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB75 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R5023 LHC-F
2	2	By: Smithee H.B. No. 75
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the release of defendants on bail, the duties of a
10	10	magistrate in certain criminal proceedings, and the regulation of
11	11	charitable bail organizations.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Article 15.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
14	14	amended by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
15	15	(h) Not later than 24 hours after the time a magistrate
16	16	determines that no probable cause exists to believe that a person
17	17	committed the offense for which the person was arrested, the
18	18	magistrate shall make oral or written findings of fact and
19	19	conclusions of law on the record to support that finding.
20	20	SECTION 2. The heading to Article 17.027, Code of Criminal
21	21	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
22	22	Art. 17.027. RELEASE ON BAIL OF DEFENDANT CHARGED WITH
23	23	FELONY OFFENSE [COMMITTED WHILE ON BAIL].
24	24	SECTION 3. Article 17.027, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
25	25	amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
26	26	(a-1) A criminal law hearing officer appointed under
27	27	Chapter 54, Government Code, may not release on bail a defendant
28	28	who:
29	29	(1) is charged with committing an offense punishable
30	30	as a felony if the defendant:
31	31	(A) was on parole at the time of the offense;
32	32	(B) has previously been finally convicted of two
33	33	or more offenses punishable as a felony and for which the defendant
34	34	was imprisoned in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; or
35	35	(C) is subject to an immigration detainer issued
36	36	by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement; or
37	37	(2) is charged with committing an offense under the
38	38	following provisions of the Penal Code:
39	39	(A) Section 19.02 (murder);
40	40	(B) Section 19.03 (capital murder);
41	41	(C) Section 20.04 (aggravated kidnapping);
42	42	(D) Section 22.02 (aggravated assault); or
43	43	(E) Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual assault).
44	44	SECTION 4. Article 17.03(b-2), Code of Criminal Procedure,
45	45	is amended to read as follows:
46	46	(b-2) Except as provided by Articles 15.21, 17.032, 17.033,
47	47	and 17.151, a defendant may not be released on personal bond if the
48	48	defendant:
49	49	(1) is charged with:
50	50	(A) an offense involving violence; or
51	51	(B) an offense under:
52	52	(i) Section 19.02(b)(4), Penal Code (murder
53	53	as a result of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance in
54	54	Penalty Group 1-B);
55	55	(ii) Section 22.07, Penal Code (terroristic
56	56	threat);
57	57	(iii) Section 25.07, Penal Code (violation
58	58	of certain court orders or conditions of bond in a family violence,
59	59	child abuse or neglect, sexual assault or abuse, indecent assault,
60	60	stalking, or trafficking case); or
61	61	(iv) Section 46.04(a), Penal Code (unlawful
62	62	possession of firearm); or
63	63	(2) while released on bail or community supervision
64	64	for an offense involving violence, is charged with committing:
65	65	(A) any offense punishable as a felony; or
66	66	(B) an offense under the following provisions of
67	67	the Penal Code:
68	68	(i) Section 22.01(a)(1) (assault);
69	69	(ii) Section 22.05 (deadly conduct); or
70	70	(iii) [Section 22.07 (terroristic threat);
71	71	or
72	72	[(iv)] Section 42.01(a)(7) or (8)
73	73	(disorderly conduct involving firearm).
74	74	SECTION 5. Articles 17.071(a), (f), (h), and (k), Code of
75	75	Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
76	76	(a) In this article:
77	77	(1) "Charitable [, "charitable] bail organization"
78	78	means a person who accepts and uses donations from the public to
79	79	deposit money with a court in the amount of a defendant's bail bond.
80	80	The term does not include:
81	81	(A) [(1)] a person accepting donations with
82	82	respect to a defendant who is a member of the person's family, as
83	83	determined under Section 71.003, Family Code; or
84	84	(B) [(2)] a nonprofit corporation organized for
85	85	a religious purpose.
86	86	(2) "Office" means the Office of Court Administration
87	87	of the Texas Judicial System.
88	88	(f) Not later than the 10th day of each month, a charitable
89	89	bail organization shall submit to the office [, to the sheriff of
90	90	each county in which the organization files an affidavit under
91	91	Subsection (e),] a report that includes the following information
92	92	for each defendant for whom the organization paid a bail bond in the
93	93	preceding calendar month:
94	94	(1) the name of the defendant;
95	95	(2) the cause number of the case;
96	96	(3) each charge for which the bond was paid;
97	97	(4) the amount of the bond paid;
98	98	(5) the county in which the applicable charge is
99	99	pending, if different from the county in which the bond was paid;
100	100	(6) [and
101	101	[(4)] any dates on which the defendant has failed to
102	102	appear in court as required for the charge for which the bond was
103	103	paid; and
104	104	(7) whether a bond forfeiture has occurred in
105	105	connection with the charge for which the bond was paid.
106	106	(h) If the office has reason to believe that a charitable
107	107	bail organization may have paid one or more bonds in violation of
108	108	this article, the office shall report that information to the
109	109	sheriff of the county in which the suspected violation occurred.
110	110	The sheriff of that [a] county may suspend a charitable bail
111	111	organization from paying bail bonds in the county for a period not
112	112	to exceed one year if the sheriff determines the organization has
113	113	paid one or more bonds in violation of this article and the
114	114	organization has received a warning from the sheriff in the
115	115	preceding 12-month period for another payment of bond made in
116	116	violation of this article. The sheriff shall report the suspension
117	117	to the office [Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
118	118	System].
119	119	(k) Not later than December 1 of each year, the office
120	120	[Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System] shall
121	121	prepare and submit, to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker
122	122	of the house of representatives, and presiding officers of the
123	123	standing committees of each house of the legislature with primary
124	124	jurisdiction over the judiciary, a report regarding the information
125	125	submitted to the office under Subsections (f) [(f-1)] and (h) for
126	126	the preceding state fiscal year.
127	127	SECTION 6. Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
128	128	amended by adding Article 17.092 to read as follows:
129	129	Art. 17.092. MODIFICATION OF BOND. A magistrate described
130	130	by Articles 2A.151(5)-(14) may not modify the amount or conditions
131	131	of bond set by the judge of a district court, including the judge of
132	132	a district court in another county.
133	133	SECTION 7. Article 17.21, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
134	134	amended to read as follows:
135	135	Art. 17.21. BAIL IN FELONY. (a) In cases of felony, when
136	136	the accused is in custody of the sheriff or other officer, and the
137	137	court before which the prosecution is pending is in session in the
138	138	county where the accused is in custody, the court shall fix the
139	139	amount of bail, if it is a bailable case and determine if the
140	140	accused is eligible for a personal bond; and the sheriff or other
141	141	peace officer, unless it be the police of a city, or a jailer
142	142	licensed under Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is authorized to
143	143	take a bail bond of the accused in the amount as fixed by the court,
144	144	to be approved by such officer taking the same, and will thereupon
145	145	discharge the accused from custody. The defendant and the
146	146	defendant's sureties are not required to appear in court.
147	147	(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a magistrate may not
148	148	release on bail a defendant charged with an offense punishable as a
149	149	felony unless:
150	150	(1) the defendant has appeared before the magistrate;
151	151	and
152	152	(2) the magistrate has considered the public safety
153	153	report prepared under Article 17.022 for the defendant.
154	154	SECTION 8. Articles 44.01(a) and (g), Code of Criminal
155	155	Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
156	156	(a) The state is entitled to appeal an order of a court in a
157	157	criminal case if the order:
158	158	(1) dismisses an indictment, information, or
159	159	complaint or any portion of an indictment, information, or
160	160	complaint;
161	161	(2) arrests or modifies a judgment;
162	162	(3) grants a new trial;
163	163	(4) sustains a claim of former jeopardy;
164	164	(5) grants a motion to suppress evidence, a
165	165	confession, or an admission, if jeopardy has not attached in the
166	166	case and if the prosecuting attorney certifies to the trial court
167	167	that the appeal is not taken for the purpose of delay and that the
168	168	evidence, confession, or admission is of substantial importance in
169	169	the case; [or]
170	170	(6) is issued under Chapter 64; or
171	171	(7) grants bail, in an amount considered insufficient
172	172	by the prosecuting attorney, to a defendant who:
173	173	(A) is charged with an offense punishable as a
174	174	felony; and
175	175	(B) has previously been granted bail for a
176	176	pending offense punishable as a felony.
177	177	(g) If the state appeals pursuant to this article and the
178	178	defendant is on bail, the defendant [he] shall be permitted to
179	179	remain at large on the existing bail. If the defendant is in
180	180	custody, the defendant [he] is entitled to reasonable bail, as
181	181	provided by law, unless the appeal is from an order which would:
182	182	(1) terminate the prosecution, in which event the
183	183	defendant is entitled to release on personal bond; or
184	184	(2) grant bail in an amount considered insufficient by
185	185	the prosecuting attorney, in which event the defendant shall be
186	186	held in custody during the pendency of the appeal.
187	187	SECTION 9. Article 17.071(f-1), Code of Criminal Procedure,
188	188	is repealed.
189	189	SECTION 10. The change in law made by this Act applies only
190	190	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
191	191	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
192	192	governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
193	193	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
194	194	purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
195	195	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
196	196	before that date.
197	197	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.