BILL ANALYSIS |
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C.S.H.B. 1967 |
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By: Moody |
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Criminal Jurisprudence |
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Committee Report (Substituted) |
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties contend that funds provided by the Texas Indigent Defense Commission for innocence projects would be better utilized if the direct investigation and litigation of wrongful convictions were prioritized. C.S.H.B. 1967 seeks to address this concern by authorizing the commission to create an innocence project grant program to distribute funds provided for innocence projects.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission in SECTION 2 of this bill.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 1967 amends the Government Code to authorize the Texas Indigent Defense Commission to establish, using any funds available for the purpose, an innocence project grant program to support projects that screen, investigate, and litigate post-conviction claims of actual innocence in non-capital cases in Texas and to support associated expenses necessary to conduct those activities. The bill requires the commission, in making grant awards under the program, to promote among projects coordinated strategies that will enable those projects to efficiently screen requests for assistance and to engage in effective investigation and litigation activities. The bill restricts eligibility to receive grants under the program to a public or private law school in Texas. The bill authorizes a law school that receives such a grant to enter into a contract with a nonprofit organization that is based in Texas and operates an innocence project, provided that the law school accepts primary responsibility for monitoring the contract. The bill authorizes the commission to adopt rules to implement the bill's provisions relating to the program. The bill removes the specification that a legal clinic or program in Texas that receives financial support from the commission and is required to submit an annual report regarding certain criminal cases to the commission is a clinic or program operated by a law school.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 1967 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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