HBA-JEK, AMW C.S.H.B. 598 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 598
By: Goodman
Corrections
3/9/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The community justice assistance division (division) of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice allocates funds to community supervision and
corrections departments that supervise or help rehabilitate the more than
440,000 offenders in Texas who are currently serving sentences under
community supervision rather than in prison.  These departments receive
approximately 65 percent of their operating budgets from the Texas
Legislature.  They also receive funds from their local governments and by
collecting court-ordered fees from offenders.  The maximum fees collected
from offenders have not been increased for years, which has resulted in
more costs for local governments.  C.S.H.B. 598 raises the maximum monthly
fees that local governments may charge defendants during their supervision
period. 

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

C.S.H.B. 598 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to increase from $40 to
$60 the maximum amount of a monthly fee that a defendant pays to the court
of record having original criminal jurisdiction during the community
supervision period.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The substitute removes the provision in the original that  increased from
182 days to two years the maximum period of time that the community justice
assistance division is required to pay to a community supervision and
corrections department a per diem amount, for per capital funding, for each
misdemeanant defendant supervised by the department pursuant to lawful
authority.