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.