89R9519 MCF-D
By: Eckhardt S.B. No. 1785
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the confinement in a county jail of certain defendants
who are incompetent to stand trial and to the compensation to the
county for the costs of that confinement and of the provision of
jail-based competency restoration services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 46B, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 46B.014 to read as follows:
Art. 46B.014. TRANSFER TO COMMISSION; COMPENSATION TO
COUNTIES. (a) The commission shall take custody of a defendant
awaiting transfer under an order issued under Article 46B.073 to a
facility operated by or under contract with the commission, not
later than the 45th day following the date the order is issued.
(b) If the commission does not take custody of a defendant
within the period prescribed by Subsection (a), the commission
shall compensate the county for the cost of confinement for each day
that the defendant remains confined in the county jail following
the expiration of that period. The compensation must be equal to
the amount that would have been incurred by the commission to
confine the defendant for that period.
SECTION 2. Article 46B.091, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (n) to read as follows:
(n) A county is entitled to compensation from the commission
for providing jail-based competency restoration services under
this article. Not later than the 15th day of each quarter of a
county's fiscal year, the county judge shall certify to the
comptroller of public accounts the amount of the county's expenses
that were incurred during the preceding fiscal quarter for
jail-based competency restoration services. The comptroller shall
issue a warrant in that amount to the commissioners court of the
county.
SECTION 3. Article 46B.014, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
added by this Act, applies only to compensation to a county for the
cost of a defendant's confinement that occurs on or after January 1,
2026, regardless of whether the order of commitment is issued
before, on, or after that date.
SECTION 4. Article 46B.091, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by this Act, applies only with respect to jail-based
competency restoration services provided to a defendant on or after
January 1, 2026.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2025.