Bill Text: TX HB1177 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to a prohibition on the imposition of court costs and filing, reimbursement, or other fees on certain indigent defendants and plaintiffs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-31 - Left pending in committee [HB1177 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB1177-Introduced.html
| 87R3250 ANG-D | ||
| By: Crockett | H.B. No. 1177 | |
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| relating to a prohibition on the imposition of court costs and | ||
| filing, reimbursement, or other fees on certain indigent defendants | ||
| and plaintiffs. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subtitle I, Title 2, Government Code, is amended | ||
| by adding Chapter 104 to read as follows: | ||
| CHAPTER 104. COURT COSTS AND FILING, REIMBURSEMENT, AND OTHER FEES | ||
| IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE INDIGENT | ||
| Sec. 104.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter does not apply | ||
| to a proceeding filed by the state's Title IV-D agency for an | ||
| individual to whom the agency is providing services authorized | ||
| under Chapter 231, Family Code. | ||
| Sec. 104.002. INDIGENCY DETERMINATION. For purposes of | ||
| this chapter, an individual is indigent if: | ||
| (1) the individual's household income is at or below | ||
| 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines as determined by the | ||
| United States Department of Health and Human Services; | ||
| (2) the individual or the individual's dependent is | ||
| determined to be financially eligible to receive legal services | ||
| from a nonprofit organization funded partly by the Texas Access to | ||
| Justice Foundation or the Legal Services Corporation; | ||
| (3) the individual or the individual's dependent is | ||
| eligible based on the individual's financial means to receive a | ||
| benefit from a government program, including: | ||
| (A) the supplemental nutrition assistance | ||
| program under Chapter 33, Human Resources Code; | ||
| (B) the national school lunch program of free or | ||
| reduced-price meals; | ||
| (C) the federal special supplemental nutrition | ||
| program for women, infants, and children authorized by 42 U.S.C. | ||
| Section 1786; | ||
| (D) the Medicaid program under Chapter 32, Human | ||
| Resources Code; | ||
| (E) the child health plan program operated under | ||
| Chapter 62, Health and Safety Code; | ||
| (F) the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families | ||
| program under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code; | ||
| (G) Supplemental Security Income benefits under | ||
| 42 U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq.; | ||
| (H) publicly financed or subsidized housing; | ||
| (I) subsidized child-care services; | ||
| (J) the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance | ||
| Program; or | ||
| (K) the federal earned income tax credit; or | ||
| (4) the individual filed a statement of inability to | ||
| afford payment of court costs in a civil matter in accordance with | ||
| the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and was not ordered to pay court | ||
| costs based on a finding that the individual cannot afford to pay | ||
| the court costs. | ||
| Sec. 104.003. WAIVER OF COURT COSTS AND OTHER FEES FOR | ||
| INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE INDIGENT. Notwithstanding Section 101.001, | ||
| 102.001, 103.001, or any other law, a judge or justice of the | ||
| supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, a court of appeals, a | ||
| district court, a criminal district court, a constitutional county | ||
| court, a statutory county court, a justice court, or a municipal | ||
| court, in a civil or criminal proceeding before the court, who finds | ||
| that the defendant or plaintiff in the proceeding is an individual | ||
| who is indigent shall waive all court costs, including costs on | ||
| conviction, and all filing fees, reimbursement fees, and other fees | ||
| imposed by law on the individual. | ||
| SECTION 2. Chapter 104, Government Code, as added by this | ||
| Act, applies only to court costs and filing, reimbursement, and | ||
| other fees imposed in a civil or criminal proceeding commenced on or | ||
| after the effective date of this Act. Court costs and filing, | ||
| reimbursement, and other fees imposed in a civil or criminal | ||
| proceeding commenced before the effective date of this Act are | ||
| governed by the law in effect on the date the proceeding was | ||
| commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for that | ||
| purpose. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. | ||
