HBA-EDN C.S.S.B. 1120 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 1120 By: Armbrister Criminal Jurisprudence 5/10/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) 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. Senate Bill 1120 allows a bondsman's forfeited bond to be remitted, minus certain costs incurred in the return of the defendant, and sets forth a bondsman's liability limitations if the principal has been incarcerated. 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.S.B. 1120 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to modify provisions relating to the liability of a criminal defendant and the defendant's sureties on a bond and relating to certain procedures in connection with a bond forfeiture. The bill provides that if a principal fails to appear in court, the incarceration of the principal on or after the date that the principal fails to appear limits the liability of the sureties on the bond if the sureties submit to the law enforcement agency of the county in which the prosecution is pending a written request for confirmation of the principal's incarceration. The bill provides that such a written request must be made while the principal is incarcerated and requires a law enforcement agency that receives a request to notify the surety and the court in which the prosecution is pending whether the principal is or has been incarcerated by the agency and the date of the incarceration. The bill sets forth the specific costs and penalty amounts for which a surety whose liability is limited under these provisions is liable and authorizes the state to agree to a greater limitation of liability of a surety. C.S.S.B. 1120 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 if in the case for which the bond was given the principal is placed on community supervision, including deferred adjudication community supervision, a sentence is imposed on the principal, the court dismisses the case, or the principal is acquitted. The bill deletes provisions relating to a defendant's bond for a misdemeanor conviction that is being appealed. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.S.B. 1120 modifies the original by adding provisions relating to the limitation of liability of a surety if the principal has been incarcerated and the surety has requested written confirmation of such during the principal's incarceration. The substitute requires that a court remit to a surety the amount of the bond before the entry of a final judgment if in the case for which the bond was given the principal is placed on community supervision, a sentence is imposed on the principal, the court dismisses the case, or the principal is acquitted.