84R24310 KJE-F
	By: Hinojosa	S.B. No. 1057
	(Herrero)
	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1057:  No.

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the provision of funding for indigent defense services.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Sections 79.016(a) and (c), Government Code, are
	amended to read as follows:
	(a)  A board member who is a chief public defender for or [who
	is] an attorney employed by an entity [a public defender's office in
	a county] that applies for funds under Section 79.037 shall
	disclose that fact before a vote by the board regarding an award of
	funds to that entity [county] and may not participate in that [such
	a] vote.
	(c)  The commission may not award funds under Section 79.037
	to an entity [a county] served by a chief public defender or other
	attorney who fails to make a disclosure to the board as required by
	Subsection (a).
	SECTION 2.  Section 79.037, Government Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding Subsections (e),
	(f), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
	(a)  The commission shall:
	(1)  provide technical support to:
	(A)  assist counties in improving their indigent
	defense systems; and
	(B)  promote compliance by counties with the
	requirements of state law relating to indigent defense;
	(2)  to assist a county [counties] in providing
	indigent defense services in the county, distribute in the form of
	grants any funds appropriated for the purposes of this section to
	one or more of the following entities:
	(A)  the county;
	(B)  a law school's legal clinic or program that
	provides indigent defense services in the county; and
	(C)  a regional public defender that meets the
	requirements of Subsection (e) and provides indigent defense
	services in the county; and
	(3)  monitor each entity [county] that receives a grant
	under Subdivision (2) and enforce compliance [by the county] with
	the conditions of the grant, including enforcement by:
	(A)  withdrawing grant funds; or
	(B)  requiring reimbursement of grant funds by the
	entity [county].
	(b)  The commission shall determine for each county the
	entity or entities within the county that are eligible to receive
	[distribute] funds for the provision of indigent defense services
	under [as required by] Subsection (a)(2).  The determination must
	be made based on the entity's:
	(1)  [a county's] compliance with standards adopted by
	the board; and
	(2)  [the county's] demonstrated commitment to
	compliance with the requirements of state law relating to indigent
	defense.
	(c)  The board shall adopt policies to ensure that funds
	under Subsection (a)(2) are allocated and distributed [to counties]
	in a fair manner.
	(e)  The commission may distribute funds under Subsection
	(a)(2) to a regional public defender's office formed under Article
	26.044, Code of Criminal Procedure, if:
	(1)  the regional public defender's office serves two
	or more counties;
	(2)  each county that enters an agreement to create or
	designate and to jointly fund the regional public defender's office
	satisfies the commission that the county will timely provide funds
	to the office for the duration of the grant for at least half of the
	office's operational costs;
	(3)  each participating county by local rule adopts and
	submits to the commission guidelines under Article 26.04(f), Code
	of Criminal Procedure, detailing the types of cases to be assigned
	to the office; and
	(4)  each participating county and the regional public
	defender's office agree in writing to a method that the commission
	determines to be appropriate under Subsection (f) to pay all costs
	associated with the defense of cases assigned to the office that
	remain pending in the county after the termination of the agreement
	or the county's participation in the agreement.
	(f)  The commission shall select, by rule or under a contract
	with a regional public defender's office, a method for the payment
	of costs under Subsection (e)(4), which may include any combination
	of the following:
	(1)  allowing an office to establish and maintain a
	reserve of funds sufficient to cover anticipated costs, in an
	amount determined appropriate by the commission;
	(2)  guaranteeing all or part of the costs to be paid;
	or
	(3)  establishing a schedule of fees for the payment of
	costs in the manner provided by Article 26.05, Code of Criminal
	Procedure.
	(g)  Any change to a schedule of fees established under
	Subsection (f)(3) must first be approved by the commission.
	(h)  A regional public defender's office shall collect each
	participating county's portion of the operational costs as that
	portion is provided by the county to the office.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.