HBA-EDN H.B. 1102 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1102
By: Hinojosa
Criminal Jurisprudence
4/3/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law prohibits the complete forfeiture of a bond until a final
judgment has been entered in a forfeiture case and further prevents a final
judgment from being entered for nine months in a misdemeanor case and
eighteen months in a felony case.  This provision of the statute has been
held unconstitutional because it interferes with the judiciary's ability to
enter final judgments in accordance with the Texas Rules of Civil
Procedure.  The effect of this nullification is that a bail bondsman can
lose the entire amount of a posted bond if a defendant misses a court date
but is immediately or soon thereafter returned to custody.  Once a bond is
forfeited, there is no incentive for the bail bondsman to continue to
search for the defendant. There is also concern that a defendant who has
advance notice of a bondsman's intent to revoke the defendant's bail may
use that opportunity to flee.  House Bill 1102 allows a bondsman's
forfeited bond to be remitted, minus certain costs incurred in the return
of the defendant, and removes the requirement that a bondsman give notice
of intent to revoke a defendant's bail. 

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. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1102 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to remove the
requirement that a surety  give notice of the surety's intention to
surrender the principal.  The bill provides that the incarceration of the
principal in any jurisdiction at the time of or not later than 12 months
after the principal's failure to appear in court is a cause for exoneration
of the defendant and the defendant's sureties from liability upon the
forfeiture taken.  H.B. 1102 authorizes a surety to request confirmation of
the principal's incarceration and requires a law enforcement agency
receiving a request for confirmation to notify the court in which the
prosecution is pending and to notify the surety whether or not the
principal is or has been incarcerated in another jurisdiction and the date
of the incarceration.  The bill provides that a defendant and the
defendant's sureties are liable for costs of court, any reasonable and
necessary costs to the county for the return of the principal, and interest
accrued on the bond amount from the date of forfeiture until the date of
the principal's incarceration in the same manner and at the same rate as
provided for the accrual of prejudgment interest in civil cases.    

H.B. 1102 removes time limits for a final judgment to be entered against a
bond.  The bill  requires that a court remit to the surety the amount of
the bond before the entry of a final judgment.  The bill removes provisions
relating to a defendant's bond for a misdemeanor conviction that is being
appealed.       
    
EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.