Bill Text: TX HB2020 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Relating to the release of defendants on bail.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-05-13 - Received from the House [HB2020 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB2020-Engrossed.html
By: Kacal, Harris | H.B. No. 2020 |
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relating to the release of defendants on bail. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Damon Allen Act. | ||
SECTION 2. Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended by adding Articles 17.021 and 17.027 to read as follows: | ||
Art. 17.021. BAIL ADVISORY COMMISSION. (a) The Bail | ||
Advisory Commission is established to develop recommendations for | ||
the Texas Judicial Council regarding a validated pretrial risk | ||
assessment tool that is standardized for statewide use and | ||
regarding best practices for personal bond offices. The | ||
recommendations must include a validated pretrial risk assessment | ||
tool that is developed as described by Subsection (h). | ||
(b) The commission is composed of 12 members appointed as | ||
follows: | ||
(1) four members with an interest in criminal justice | ||
who are appointed by the governor, including: | ||
(A) one person with at least 10 years of | ||
experience acting, either as principal or on behalf of a | ||
corporation, as a surety for compensation; | ||
(B) one person with at least 10 years of law | ||
enforcement experience; | ||
(C) one attorney licensed to practice law in this | ||
state who has practiced primarily in the area of criminal defense | ||
for at least 10 years; and | ||
(D) one attorney licensed to practice law in this | ||
state who has practiced criminal law in the office of an attorney | ||
representing the state for at least 10 years; | ||
(2) the presiding officer of the Senate Committee on | ||
Criminal Justice; | ||
(3) two members of the senate who are appointed by the | ||
lieutenant governor; | ||
(4) the presiding officer of the House Committee on | ||
Criminal Jurisprudence; | ||
(5) two members of the house of representatives who | ||
are appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives; | ||
(6) one member appointed by the chief justice of the | ||
supreme court; and | ||
(7) one member appointed by the presiding judge of the | ||
court of criminal appeals. | ||
(c) In making appointments under Subsections (b)(1), (3), | ||
and (5), the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the | ||
house of representatives shall coordinate to ensure that the | ||
membership of the commission reflects, to the extent possible, the | ||
ethnic, racial, and geographic diversity of this state. | ||
(d) The governor shall designate the presiding officer of | ||
the commission. | ||
(e) The commission shall meet at the call of the presiding | ||
officer and may hold public meetings as necessary to fulfill its | ||
duties under this article. | ||
(f) A member of the commission is not entitled to | ||
compensation for service on the commission but is entitled to | ||
reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in | ||
performing commission duties. | ||
(g) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial | ||
System shall provide administrative support for the commission. | ||
Funding for the administrative and operational expenses of the | ||
commission, including any contracts or other engagements necessary | ||
for the development of a recommended validated pretrial risk | ||
assessment tool as described by Subsection (h)(1), shall be | ||
provided through an appropriation to the Office of Court | ||
Administration for that purpose. | ||
(h) The commission shall, in coordination with the Office of | ||
Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System: | ||
(1) develop a recommended validated pretrial risk | ||
assessment tool that is standardized for statewide use, that is | ||
available for use for purposes of Article 17.1501, and that: | ||
(A) is objective, validated for its intended use, | ||
and standardized; | ||
(B) is based on an analysis of empirical data and | ||
risk factors relevant to: | ||
(i) the risk of a defendant intentionally | ||
failing to appear in court as required; and | ||
(ii) the safety of the community or the | ||
victim of the alleged offense if the defendant is released; | ||
(C) does not consider factors that | ||
disproportionately affect persons who are members of racial or | ||
ethnic minority groups or who are socioeconomically disadvantaged | ||
and has been demonstrated to produce results that are unbiased with | ||
respect to the race or ethnicity of defendants; and | ||
(D) is designed to function in a transparent | ||
manner with respect to the public and each defendant to whom the | ||
tool is applied; | ||
(2) develop recommendations regarding best practices | ||
for personal bond offices to use for pretrial services authorized | ||
by Article 17.42; | ||
(3) collect and analyze information related to | ||
pretrial release practices and distribute the analyses and | ||
information as a resource to courts, personal bond offices, and | ||
other relevant organizations; and | ||
(4) collect information relating to defendants | ||
released on bail, including the rate of failure to appear, | ||
commission of new offenses, and other relevant information. | ||
(i) The commission shall make the factors considered in | ||
developing the tool available to the public. | ||
(j) Not later than March 1, 2020, the commission shall | ||
prepare a report containing the recommendations of the commission | ||
developed under this article, including the commission's | ||
recommended validated pretrial risk assessment tool, and shall | ||
deliver the report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, each | ||
member of the legislature, the chief justice of the supreme court, | ||
the presiding judge of the court of criminal appeals, and the Texas | ||
Judicial Council. | ||
(k) The Texas Judicial Council shall review the report and | ||
may recommend to the commission changes to the tool consistent with | ||
the requirements of Subsection (h)(1). Any recommended changes | ||
must be submitted to the commission not later than June 1, 2020. If | ||
the council recommends changes to the tool, the commission shall | ||
revise the tool in accordance with the recommendations, prepare a | ||
report containing the recommended tool as revised, and deliver the | ||
report to the persons and entities listed in Subsection (j) not | ||
later than August 1, 2020. | ||
(l) Not later than August 31, 2020, the Texas Judicial | ||
Council shall adopt either the validated pretrial risk assessment | ||
tool recommended by the commission under Subsection (j) or the | ||
revised tool recommended by the commission under Subsection (k). | ||
(m) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial | ||
System shall provide the validated pretrial risk assessment tool | ||
adopted under Subsection (l) to magistrates in this state at no | ||
cost. | ||
(n) A county may, as necessary, in consultation with the | ||
district and county court at law judges and the county bail bond | ||
board, if one exists, modify the validated pretrial risk assessment | ||
tool adopted under this article as necessary to ensure that the | ||
requirements of Subsection (h)(1) are being met and, as soon as | ||
practicable, shall provide notice of that modification to the | ||
Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System. | ||
(o) Not later than January 1, 2023, the commission shall | ||
prepare a report regarding the implementation and use of the | ||
validated pretrial risk assessment tool adopted under Subsection | ||
(l) and its effect on pretrial recidivism rates and the rates at | ||
which defendants failed to appear in court as required and shall | ||
deliver the report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, each | ||
member of the legislature, the chief justice of the supreme court, | ||
the presiding judge of the court of criminal appeals, and the Texas | ||
Judicial Council. The report must include a description of any | ||
modifications to the tool made by counties under this article and | ||
known to the commission at the time of the report. | ||
(p) The commission is abolished effective September 1, | ||
2023. | ||
Art. 17.027. AUTHORITY TO RELEASE ON BAIL IN CERTAIN CASES. | ||
(a) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by Article | ||
17.03(b), only a magistrate who meets the qualifications described | ||
by Subsection (b) may release on bail a defendant charged with an | ||
offense: | ||
(1) punishable as a felony; or | ||
(2) under Chapter 21 or 22, Penal Code, that is | ||
punishable as a Class B misdemeanor or any higher category of | ||
offense. | ||
(b) To qualify to release on bail a defendant described by | ||
Subsection (a), a magistrate must: | ||
(1) be a resident of this state and one of the counties | ||
in which the magistrate serves; | ||
(2) not have been removed from office by impeachment, | ||
by the supreme court, by the governor on address to the legislature, | ||
by a tribunal reviewing a recommendation of the State Commission on | ||
Judicial Conduct, or by the legislature's abolition of the | ||
magistrate's court; and | ||
(3) not have resigned from office after having | ||
received notice that formal proceedings by the State Commission on | ||
Judicial Conduct had been instituted as provided by Section 33.022, | ||
Government Code, and before final disposition of the proceedings. | ||
(c) In addition to the requirements of Subsection (b), to | ||
qualify to release on bail a defendant described by Subsection (a), | ||
a magistrate must have completed not less than four hours of | ||
instruction regarding the magistrate's duties under Article 17.028 | ||
and duties with respect to setting bail in criminal cases. | ||
SECTION 3. Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended by adding Article 17.028 to read as follows: | ||
Art. 17.028. PRETRIAL RISK ASSESSMENT. (a) A magistrate | ||
considering the release on bail of a defendant charged with an | ||
offense punishable as a Class B misdemeanor or any higher category | ||
of offense shall order that: | ||
(1) the personal bond office established under Article | ||
17.42 for the county in which the defendant is being detained, or | ||
other suitably trained person, use the validated pretrial risk | ||
assessment tool described by Article 17.1501 to conduct a pretrial | ||
risk assessment with respect to the defendant; and | ||
(2) the results of the assessment be provided to the | ||
magistrate within 48 hours of the defendant's arrest. | ||
(b) A magistrate may not, without the consent of the | ||
sheriff, order a sheriff or sheriff's department personnel to | ||
conduct a pretrial risk assessment under Subsection (a). | ||
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a magistrate may | ||
personally conduct a pretrial risk assessment using the validated | ||
pretrial risk assessment tool described by Article 17.1501. | ||
(d) The magistrate shall consider the results of the | ||
pretrial risk assessment before making a bail decision. | ||
SECTION 4. Article 17.15, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Art. 17.15. RULES FOR SETTING [ |
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The amount of bail to be required in any case is to be regulated by | ||
the court, judge, magistrate, or officer taking the bail in | ||
accordance with Articles 17.20, 17.21, and 17.22 and is [ |
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Constitution and [ |
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(1) [ |
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reasonable assurance that the undertaking will be complied with. | ||
(2) [ |
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as to make it an instrument of oppression. | ||
(3) [ |
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circumstances under which the offense [ |
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defendant's criminal history, including acts of family violence, | ||
shall [ |
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(4) [ |
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considered [ |
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(5) [ |
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offense, peace officers, and the community shall be considered. | ||
(6) Any other relevant facts or circumstances may be | ||
considered. | ||
(b) In this article, "family violence" has the meaning | ||
assigned by Section 71.004, Family Code. | ||
SECTION 5. Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended by adding Article 17.1501 to read as follows: | ||
Art. 17.1501. RULES FOR SETTING AMOUNT OF BAIL: PRETRIAL | ||
RISK ASSESSMENT. In addition to the requirements of Article 17.15, | ||
in setting the amount of bail to be required in any case, the court, | ||
judge, magistrate, or officer taking the bail shall consider the | ||
results of a pretrial risk assessment conducted using the validated | ||
pretrial risk assessment tool adopted for statewide use under | ||
Article 17.021(l). | ||
SECTION 6. As soon as practicable but not later than | ||
September 1, 2020, the Office of Court Administration of the Texas | ||
Judicial System shall make available on the office's Internet | ||
website the validated pretrial risk assessment tool adopted under | ||
Article 17.021(l), Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this | ||
Act, and any related forms and materials. If those items are made | ||
available before September 1, 2020, the office shall notify each | ||
court clerk, judge or other magistrate, and office of an attorney | ||
representing the state. | ||
SECTION 7. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this Act, | ||
the changes in law made by this Act apply only to a person who is | ||
arrested on or after September 1, 2020. | ||
(b) Article 17.027, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by | ||
this Act, and Article 17.15, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended | ||
by this Act, apply to a person who is arrested on or after September | ||
1, 2019. | ||
SECTION 8. Article 17.027(c), Code of Criminal Procedure, | ||
as added by this Act, applies only with respect to a release of a | ||
defendant on bail that occurs on or after September 1, 2020. | ||
SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this | ||
section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
(b) Articles 17.028 and 17.1501, Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure, as added by this Act, take effect September 1, 2020. |