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


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1321
By: King, Phil
Criminal Jurisprudence
4/11/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)



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. C.S.H.B. 1321 authorizes a magistrate
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.  (a)
Authorizes a magistrate 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. 

(b) Authorizes a magistrate, at a hearing limited to determining whether
the defendant violated a condition of bond imposed under Subsection (a), to
revoke the defendant's bond only if the magistrate finds by a preponderance
of the evidence that the violation occurred. 

SECTION 2.  Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 3.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause. 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The substitute differs from the original in SECTION 1 (proposed Article
17.40, Code of Criminal Procedure) by creating Subsection (a) from proposed
text and removing from the authorization of a magistrate to impose any
reasonable condition of bond related to the safety of a victim or
community, the condition that the magistrate find that the defendant is
likely to commit an offense during the defendant's release on pre-trial
bond.  The substitute adds Subsection (b) to authorize a magistrate, at a
hearing limited to determining whether the defendant violated a condition
of bond imposed under Subsection (a), to revoke the defendant's bond only
if the magistrate finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the
violation occurred.