HBA-NMO H.B. 1321 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1321
By: King, Phil
Criminal Jurisprudence
3/18/99
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

A recent court decision stated that a trial court does not have the
inherent authority to impose conditions on a defendant's pre-trial bond
that are not authorized by statute.  H.B. 1321 authorizes a magistrate who
finds that a defendant is likely to commit an offense during the
defendant's release on pre-trial bond to impose any reasonable condition of
bond related to the safety of a victim of the alleged offense or to the
safety of the community that the magistrate finds is reasonably certain to
secure the attendance of the defendant at trial. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding
Article 17.40, as follows: 

Art. 17.40.  CONDITIONS RELATED TO VICTIM OR COMMUNITY SAFETY. Authorizes a
magistrate who finds that a defendant is likely to commit an offense during
the defendant's release on pre-trial bond to impose any reasonable
condition of bond related to the safety of a victim of the alleged offense
or to the safety of the community that the magistrate finds is reasonably
certain to secure the attendance of the defendant at trial. 

SECTION 2.  Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 3.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause.