Bill Text: TX HB3035 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the release on bail of a defendant charged with stalking or an offense involving family violence.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-14 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [HB3035 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB3035-Introduced.html

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88R9992 JRR-D
By: Landgraf H.B. No. 3035

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the release on bail of a defendant charged with stalking
or an offense involving family violence.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Articles 17.03(a) and (b-2), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this article
[Subsection (b) or (b-1)], a magistrate may, in the magistrate's
discretion, release the defendant on personal bond without sureties
or other security.
(b-2) Except as provided by Articles 15.21, 17.033, and
17.151, a defendant may not be released on personal bond if the
defendant:
(1) is charged with:
(A) an offense involving violence;
(B) an offense under Section 42.072, Penal Code;
or
(C) an offense involving family violence, as
defined by Section 71.004, Family Code; or
(2) while released on bail or community supervision
for an offense involving violence, is charged with committing:
(A) any offense punishable as a felony; or
(B) an offense under the following provisions of
the Penal Code:
(i) Section 22.01(a)(1) (assault);
(ii) Section 22.05 (deadly conduct);
(iii) Section 22.07 (terroristic threat);
or
(iv) Section 42.01(a)(7) or (8) (disorderly
conduct involving firearm).
SECTION 2. Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 17.1501 to read as follows:
Art. 17.1501. MINIMUM AMOUNT OF BAIL FOR DEFENDANT CHARGED
WITH STALKING OR OFFENSE INVOLVING FAMILY VIOLENCE. (a) In this
article:
(1) "Family violence" has the meaning assigned by
Section 71.004, Family Code.
(2) "Stalking" means an offense under:
(A) Section 42.072, Penal Code; or
(B) a law listed in Section 42.072(b), Penal
Code, that contains elements that are substantially similar to the
elements of an offense under Section 42.072 of that code.
(b) The minimum amount of bail required for a defendant
charged with an offense under Section 42.072, Penal Code, or an
offense involving family violence is:
(1) $20,000, except as provided by Subdivisions (2)
and (3);
(2) $50,000, if the defendant has previously been
convicted one time of stalking or an offense involving family
violence; or
(3) $100,000, if the defendant has previously been
convicted two or more times of stalking or an offense involving
family violence.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a person who is arrested on or after December 1, 2023. A person
arrested before December 1, 2023, is governed by the law in effect
on the date the person was arrested, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect December 1, 2023, but only
if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 88th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2023, authorizing the legislature to set a minimum
amount of monetary bond for persons charged with stalking or an
offense involving family violence is approved by the voters. If
that amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no
effect.