Bill Text: TX SB21 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to rules for fixing the amount of bail, to the release of certain defendants on a bail bond or personal bond, to related duties of certain officers taking bail bonds and of a magistrate in a criminal case, to charitable bail organizations, and to the reporting of information pertaining to bail bonds.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-04-20 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [SB21 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB21-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to rules for fixing the amount of bail, to the release of certain defendants on a bail bond or personal bond, to related duties of certain officers taking bail bonds and of a magistrate in a criminal case, to charitable bail organizations, and to the reporting of information pertaining to bail bonds.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-04-20 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [SB21 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB21-Introduced.html
By: Huffman | S.B. No. 21 | |
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relating to rules for fixing the amount of bail, to the release of | ||
certain defendants on a bail bond or personal bond, to related | ||
duties of a magistrate in a criminal case, to the reporting of | ||
information pertaining to bail bonds, and to the regulation of | ||
charitable bail organizations. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Articles 17.03(b) and (b-1), Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) Only the trial court with jurisdiction over [ |
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who: | ||
(1) is charged with an offense under the following | ||
sections of the Penal Code: | ||
(A) Section 19.03 (Capital Murder); | ||
(B) Section 20.04 (Aggravated Kidnapping); | ||
(C) Section 22.021 (Aggravated Sexual Assault); | ||
(D) [ |
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[ |
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Individual, or Disabled Individual); | ||
(E) [ |
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(F) [ |
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(G) [ |
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Criminal Activity); | ||
(H) [ |
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of Young Child or Children); or | ||
(I) [ |
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of Persons); | ||
(2) is charged with a felony under Chapter 481, Health | ||
and Safety Code, or Section 485.033, Health and Safety Code, | ||
punishable by imprisonment for a minimum term or by a maximum fine | ||
that is more than a minimum term or maximum fine for a first degree | ||
felony; or | ||
(3) does not submit to testing for the presence of a | ||
controlled substance in the defendant's body as requested by the | ||
court or magistrate under Subsection (c) of this article or submits | ||
to testing and the test shows evidence of the presence of a | ||
controlled substance in the defendant's body. | ||
(b-1) A defendant is not eligible to be released [ |
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(1) [ |
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offense, is civilly committed as a sexually violent predator under | ||
Chapter 841, Health and Safety Code; | ||
(2) has, in the preceding two years, failed to appear | ||
after being released on personal bond or has had a bond found to be | ||
insufficient; | ||
(3) is charged with committing any offense while | ||
released on bail for another offense; | ||
(4) was convicted of any felony offense in the | ||
preceding three years or any Class A or Class B misdemeanor offense | ||
in the preceding year; | ||
(5) is currently charged with multiple offenses, | ||
regardless of whether the offenses are pending before the same | ||
court; | ||
(6) is charged with any offense under Title 5, Penal | ||
Code, in which there is an identifiable victim; | ||
(7) is charged with an offense that involves | ||
possession of four or more grams of a controlled substance; | ||
(8) is charged with, or in the preceding five years was | ||
charged with, an offense under Section 38.06, Penal Code; | ||
(9) has been convicted of an offense under Section | ||
22.011 or 22.021, Penal Code; or | ||
(10) is charged with any offense involving the use of a | ||
deadly weapon as defined by Section 1.07, Penal Code. | ||
SECTION 2. Article 17.15, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Art. 17.15. RULES FOR FIXING AMOUNT OF BAIL. (a) The | ||
amount of bail to be required in any case is to be regulated by the | ||
court, judge, magistrate or officer taking the bail; they are to be | ||
governed in the exercise of this discretion by the Constitution and | ||
by the following rules: | ||
1. The bail shall be sufficiently high to give reasonable | ||
assurance that the undertaking will be complied with. | ||
2. The power to require bail is not to be so used as to make | ||
it an instrument of oppression. | ||
3. The nature of the offense and the circumstances under | ||
which it was committed are to be considered. | ||
4. The ability to make bail is to be regarded, and proof may | ||
be taken upon this point. | ||
5. The future safety of a victim of the alleged offense and | ||
the community shall be considered. | ||
6. The criminal history and immigration status of the | ||
defendant, including any prior offenses committed against a public | ||
servant or involving family violence, shall be considered. | ||
(b) In this article, "family violence" has the meaning | ||
assigned by Section 71.004, Family Code. | ||
SECTION 3. Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended by adding Article 17.1501 to read as follows: | ||
Art. 17.1501. BAIL SCHEDULE; HEARING. (a) The judges of | ||
the courts trying criminal cases in a county may promulgate a | ||
standing order setting out a schedule of suggested bail amounts for | ||
any offense over which the courts have jurisdiction under Chapter | ||
4. | ||
(b) A defendant who is unable to give bail in the amount | ||
required by the schedule may file with the applicable magistrate a | ||
sworn affidavit declaring the maximum amount that the defendant | ||
would be able to pay or provide as security within 48 hours of | ||
arrest for purposes of obtaining a bail bond. The affidavit must | ||
set out sufficient facts to clearly establish that amount, given | ||
the totality of the defendant's circumstances. | ||
(c) A defendant who files an affidavit under Subsection (b) | ||
is entitled to a hearing before the magistrate on the bail amount. | ||
The hearing must be held not later than 48 hours after the charges | ||
were filed against the defendant or 48 hours after the defendant was | ||
arrested, whichever is later. At the hearing, the magistrate shall | ||
consider the facts stated in the affidavit and the rules | ||
established by Article 17.15 and set the defendant's bail. The | ||
magistrate shall issue oral or written findings of fact supporting | ||
the decision. | ||
(d) A defendant who has not given bail before the fourth | ||
business day after the date bail is set under this article shall be | ||
taken before the court before whom the case is pending for a hearing | ||
to reconsider the bail amount. At a hearing under this subsection, | ||
the court may adjust the bail, keep the bail as previously set, or | ||
impose any additional conditions of release on bond the court | ||
considers necessary. | ||
(e) This article may not be interpreted as creating a right | ||
to release on bail in this state that does not exist under the | ||
constitution of this state. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 27.005, Government Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 27.005. EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS. (a) For purposes | ||
of removal under Chapter 87, Local Government Code, "incompetency" | ||
in the case of a justice of the peace includes the failure of the | ||
justice to successfully complete: | ||
(1) within one year after the date the justice is first | ||
elected, an 80-hour course in the performance of the justice's | ||
duties, including not less than four hours of instruction regarding | ||
the justice's duties: | ||
(A) under Article 15.17, Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure; and | ||
(B) with respect to setting bail in criminal | ||
cases; and | ||
(2) each following year, a 20-hour course in the | ||
performance of the justice's duties, including not less than: | ||
(A) two hours of instruction regarding the | ||
justice's duties: | ||
(i) under Article 15.17, Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure; and | ||
(ii) with respect to setting bail in | ||
criminal cases; and | ||
(B) 10 hours of instruction regarding | ||
substantive, procedural, and evidentiary law in civil matters. | ||
(b) The courses must [ |
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(1) in an accredited state-supported school of higher | ||
education; or | ||
(2) through a course in bail bond law that is: | ||
(A) approved by the State Bar of Texas; and | ||
(B) offered by a public or accredited private | ||
institution of higher education in this state. | ||
SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 71, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 71.0354 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 71.0354. BAIL & PRETRIAL RELEASE INFORMATION. (a) As a | ||
component of the official monthly report submitted to the Office of | ||
Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System, the clerk of | ||
each court at law shall report: | ||
(1) the number of bail bonds given for each level of | ||
offense; | ||
(2) the number and type of bail bonds given; | ||
(3) the number of defendants that posted bail; | ||
(4) the number of defendants released on bail who | ||
failed to reappear; and | ||
(5) the number of defendants released on bail who | ||
committed new offenses. | ||
(b) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial | ||
System shall post the information in a publicly accessible place on | ||
the agency's website without disclosing any personal information of | ||
any defendants, judges, or magistrates. | ||
SECTION 6. Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended by adding Article 17.071 to read as follows: | ||
Art. 17.071. CHARITABLE BAIL ORGANIZATIONS. (a) In this | ||
article, "charitable bail organization" means a person who solicits | ||
donations from the public for the purpose of depositing money with a | ||
court in the amount of a defendant's bail bond. | ||
(b) This article does not apply to a charitable bail | ||
organization that pays a bail bond for not more than one defendant | ||
in any 180-day period. | ||
(c) A charitable bail organization shall file in the office | ||
of the county clerk of each county where the organization intends to | ||
pay bail bonds an affidavit designating the individuals authorized | ||
to pay bonds on behalf of the organization. | ||
(d) A charitable bail organization may only pay bail bonds | ||
for indigent defendants charged with misdemeanors. The | ||
organization may not pay more than a total amount of $2,000 for each | ||
defendant, regardless of the number of misdemeanor charges pending | ||
against the defendant. | ||
(e) Not later than the 10th day of each month, a charitable | ||
bail organization shall submit, to the sheriff of each county in | ||
which the organization files an affidavit under Subsection (c), a | ||
report that includes the following information for each defendant | ||
for whom the organization paid a bail bond in the preceding calendar | ||
month: | ||
(1) the name of the defendant; | ||
(2) the cause number of the case; | ||
(3) the county in which the applicable charge is | ||
pending, if different from the county in which the bond was paid; | ||
and | ||
(4) any dates on which the defendant has failed to | ||
appear in court as required for the charge for which the bond was | ||
paid. | ||
(f) Not later than January 10 and June 10 of each year, a | ||
charitable bail organization shall submit, to the sheriff of each | ||
county in which the organization files an affidavit under | ||
Subsection (c), a report that includes the following information | ||
for each donation of $100 or more received after the organization's | ||
most recent report under this subsection: | ||
(1) the name, address, and telephone number of the | ||
donor; and | ||
(2) the amount donated. | ||
(g) A charitable bail organization's initial report | ||
submitted under Subsection (f) must include the information | ||
required by that subsection for donations received by the | ||
organization in the preceding two years. | ||
(h) A charitable bail organization shall maintain records | ||
of all donations received and bail bonds paid by the organization | ||
until the fifth anniversary of the date the donation was received or | ||
bond was paid. The sheriff or county clerk may audit the records. | ||
(i) A charitable bail organization may not pay a bail bond | ||
for a defendant at any time the organization is considered to be out | ||
of compliance with the reporting requirements of this article. | ||
(j) A sheriff may suspend a charitable bail organization | ||
from paying bail bonds in the sheriff's county for one year if the | ||
sheriff determines the organization has paid bonds in violation of | ||
this article. | ||
(k) Chapter 22 applies to a bail bond paid by a charitable | ||
bail organization. | ||
(l) A charitable bail organization shall maintain an office | ||
in each county in which the organization files an affidavit under | ||
Subsection (c). | ||
(m) A charitable bail organization may not accept a premium | ||
or compensation for paying a bail bond for a defendant. | ||
SECTION 7. (a) Section 27.005(a)(1), Government Code, as | ||
amended by this Act, applies only to a justice of the peace who is | ||
first elected or appointed on or after the effective date of this | ||
Act. A justice of the peace who is first elected or appointed | ||
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in | ||
effect on the date the justice was first elected or appointed, and | ||
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
(b) A justice of the peace serving on the effective date of | ||
this Act must complete the justice's initial two hours of | ||
instruction required by Section 27.005(a)(2)(A), Government Code, | ||
as added by this Act, not later than September 1, 2022. | ||
(c) 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 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |