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.