Bill Text: TX HB4517 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the release of certain defendants on personal bond.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-28 - Left pending in committee [HB4517 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB4517-Introduced.html
88R7018 MCF-D | ||
By: Moody | H.B. No. 4517 |
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relating to the release of certain defendants on personal bond. | ||
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 provided by Subsection (b), [ |
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(b-2), a magistrate shall [ |
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release a [ |
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other security unless the magistrate enters a finding on the record | ||
that conditions of release are insufficient to reasonably ensure | ||
the defendant's appearance in court as required and the safety of | ||
the community, law enforcement, and the victim of the alleged | ||
offense. This subsection does not apply to a defendant described by | ||
Article 17.032(b). | ||
(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; or | ||
(B) an offense for which an element of the | ||
offense involves offensive or provocative sexual contact with | ||
another; or | ||
(2) while released on bail or community supervision | ||
for an offense described by Subdivision (1) [ |
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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. Articles 17.032(b) and (d), Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(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 a violent offense or an offense for which an | ||
element of the offense involves offensive or provocative sexual | ||
contact with another; | ||
(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, law enforcement, and the victim of | ||
the alleged offense. | ||
(d) In addition to a condition of release imposed under | ||
Subsection (c), the magistrate may require the defendant to comply | ||
with other conditions that are reasonably necessary to ensure the | ||
defendant's appearance in court as required and the safety of the | ||
community, law enforcement, and the victim of the alleged offense. | ||
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |