Bill Text: TX HB3849 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the powers and duties of a personal bond or personal bond and pretrial supervision office.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-05-01 - Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar [HB3849 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB3849-Introduced.html

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86R11842 ADM-F
By: Bell of Montgomery H.B. No. 3849

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of a personal bond or personal
bond and pretrial supervision office.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Article 17.42, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
Art. 17.42. PERSONAL BOND OR PERSONAL BOND AND PRETRIAL
SUPERVISION OFFICE.
SECTION 2. Section 1, Article 17.42, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1. Any county, or any judicial district with
jurisdiction in more than one county, with the approval of the
commissioners court of each county in the district, may establish a
personal bond or personal bond and pretrial supervision office to
gather and review information about an accused that may have a
bearing on whether the accused [he] will comply with the conditions
of a personal bond and report its findings to the court before which
the case is pending.
SECTION 3. Sections 4(a) and (b), Article 17.42, Code of
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, if a
court releases an accused on personal bond on the recommendation of
a personal bond or personal bond and pretrial supervision office,
the court shall assess a personal bond fee of $20 or three percent
of the amount of the bail fixed for the accused, whichever is
greater. The court may waive the fee or assess a lesser fee if good
cause is shown. A court that requires a defendant to give a personal
bond under Article 45.016 may not assess a personal bond fee under
this subsection.
(b) Fees collected under this article may be used solely to
defray expenses of the personal bond or personal bond and pretrial
supervision office, including defraying the expenses of
extradition.
SECTION 4. Sections 5(a) and (c), Article 17.42, Code of
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A personal bond or personal bond and pretrial
supervision [pretrial release] office established under this
article shall:
(1) prepare a record containing information about any
accused person identified by case number only who, after review by
the office, is released by a court on personal bond before
sentencing in a pending case;
(2) update the record on a monthly basis; and
(3) file a copy of the record with the district or
county clerk, as applicable based on court jurisdiction over the
categories of offenses addressed in the records, in any county
served by the office.
(c) This section does not apply to a personal bond or
personal bond and pretrial supervision [pretrial release] office
that on January 1, 1995, was operated by a community corrections and
supervision department.
SECTION 5. Sections 6(a) and (c), Article 17.42, Code of
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than April 1 of each year, a personal bond or
personal bond and pretrial supervision office established under
this article shall submit to the commissioners court or district
and county judges that established the office an annual report
containing information about the operations of the office during
the preceding year.
(c) This section does not apply to a personal bond or
personal bond and pretrial supervision [pretrial release] office
that on January 1, 1995, was operated by a community corrections and
supervision department.
SECTION 6. Article 17.42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Sections 7 and 8 to read as follows:
Sec. 7. (a) The commissioners court of a county that
establishes a personal bond and pretrial supervision office or the
district and county judges of a judicial district that establishes
a personal bond and pretrial supervision office may direct the
office to provide the pretrial services a community supervision and
corrections department may provide under Section 76.011,
Government Code.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection,
programs operated by the office under Subsection (a) may include
reasonable conditions and monitoring related to the purpose of the
programs, including testing for controlled substances and alcohol
use. If this subsection conflicts with a more specific provision of
another law, the other law prevails.
(c) This section does not apply to a personal bond and
pretrial supervision office that on January 1, 1995, was operated
by a community corrections and supervision department.
Sec. 8. (a) The commissioners court of a county that
establishes a personal bond and pretrial supervision office or the
district and county judges of a judicial district that establishes
a personal bond and pretrial supervision office may, as part of the
court's or the judges' duties related to pretrial services, direct
the office to provide:
(1) indigent legal services monitoring, including:
(A) assisting defendants in filing applications
for indigent legal services;
(B) reviewing applications and documentation to
assist the court in determining eligibility for indigent legal
services; and
(C) coordinating with appointed attorneys to
ensure sufficient legal services are provided;
(2) pretrial rehabilitative services, including:
(A) determining what rehabilitative services are
available to a defendant;
(B) making recommendations to this state, to
defense counsel, and to the court on rehabilitative services; and
(C) monitoring the placement of defendants in
rehabilitative services;
(3) coordination of mental health services,
including:
(A) recommending mental health testing;
(B) assisting defense counsel in meeting mental
health testing requirements;
(C) monitoring compliance with mental health
testing dates; and
(D) assisting magistrates with mental health
orders and testing; and
(4) other services as are required to fulfill the
goals of pretrial bond supervision.
(b) This section does not apply to a personal bond and
pretrial supervision office that on January 1, 1995, was operated
by a community corrections and supervision department.
SECTION 7. Subchapter F, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 411.14105 to read as follows:
Sec. 411.14105. ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
INFORMATION: PERSONAL BOND OR PERSONAL BOND AND PRETRIAL
SUPERVISION OFFICE. (a) In this section, "personal bond or
personal bond and pretrial supervision office" means an office
established under Article 17.42, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(b) The director of a personal bond or personal bond and
pretrial supervision office, or an employee of the office
authorized by the director, is entitled to obtain from the
department criminal history record information maintained by the
department that relates to a person who is being considered for
personal bond or is receiving services from the office.
(c) A person who obtains criminal history record
information under Subsection (b) may not release the information to
any person except to a judge or magistrate making a bond
determination, if the criminal history is relevant to that
determination.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), a person who obtains
criminal history record information under Subsection (b) may
disclose to the subject of the information, the attorney
representing the state, or the subject's defense attorney:
(1) the date and place of any arrest in the subject's
criminal history and the offense for which the subject was
arrested; and
(2) the associated dispositions.
(e) The department may not charge a fee for providing
criminal history record information under this section.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.