Bill Text: TX SB1279 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the release on personal bond of certain defendants with a mental illness or an intellectual disability.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-09 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB1279 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB1279-Introduced.html
88R11951 MCF-D | ||
By: Huffman | S.B. No. 1279 |
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relating to the release on personal bond of certain defendants with | ||
a mental illness or an intellectual disability. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Articles 17.032(a) and (b), Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) In this article, "offense involving violence" has the | ||
meaning assigned by Article 17.03 [ |
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(b) Notwithstanding Article 17.03(b), or a bond schedule | ||
adopted or a standing order entered by a judge, a magistrate shall | ||
release a defendant on personal bond unless good cause is shown | ||
otherwise if: | ||
(1) the defendant is not charged with and has not been | ||
previously convicted of an [ |
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(2) the defendant is examined by the service provider | ||
that contracts with the jail to provide mental health or | ||
intellectual and developmental disability services, the local | ||
mental health authority, the local intellectual and developmental | ||
disability authority, or another qualified mental health or | ||
intellectual and developmental disability expert under Article | ||
16.22; | ||
(3) the applicable expert, in a written report | ||
submitted to the magistrate under Article 16.22: | ||
(A) concludes that the defendant has a mental | ||
illness or is a person with an intellectual disability and is | ||
nonetheless competent to stand trial; and | ||
(B) recommends mental health treatment or | ||
intellectual and developmental disability services for the | ||
defendant, as applicable; | ||
(4) the magistrate determines, in consultation with | ||
the local mental health authority or local intellectual and | ||
developmental disability authority, that appropriate | ||
community-based mental health or intellectual and developmental | ||
disability services for the defendant are available in accordance | ||
with Section 534.053 or 534.103, Health and Safety Code, or through | ||
another mental health or intellectual and developmental disability | ||
services provider; and | ||
(5) the magistrate finds, after considering all the | ||
circumstances, a pretrial risk assessment, if applicable, and any | ||
other credible information provided by the attorney representing | ||
the state or the defendant, that release on personal bond would | ||
reasonably ensure the defendant's appearance in court as required | ||
and the safety of the community and the victim of the alleged | ||
offense. | ||
SECTION 2. Article 46B.073(c), Code of Criminal Procedure, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
(c) If the defendant is charged with an offense involving | ||
violence as defined by [ |
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the indictment alleges an affirmative finding under Article | ||
42A.054(c) or (d), the court shall enter an order committing the | ||
defendant for competency restoration services to a facility | ||
designated by the commission. | ||
SECTION 3. Article 46B.104, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Art. 46B.104. CIVIL COMMITMENT PLACEMENT: FINDING OF | ||
VIOLENCE. A defendant committed to a facility as a result of | ||
proceedings initiated under this chapter shall be committed to the | ||
facility designated by the commission if: | ||
(1) the defendant is charged with an offense involving | ||
violence as defined by [ |
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(2) the indictment charging the offense alleges an | ||
affirmative finding under Article 42A.054(c) or (d). | ||
SECTION 4. Article 17.032, Code of Criminal Procedure, as | ||
amended by this Act, applies only to a person who is arrested on or | ||
after the effective date of this Act. A person arrested before the | ||
effective date of this Act 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |