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1992 Texas Attorney General Reports and Opinions 368 (1992)

handle is hein.sag/sagtx0046 and id is 1 raw text is: DAN MORALES
ATTORNEY GENERAL

Honorable Mike Driscoll
Harris County Attorney
1001 Preston, Suite 634
Houston, Texas 77002-1891
Dear Mr. Driscoll:

Opinion No. DM-73
Re: Whether a county pre-trial services
agency is authorized under chapter 17 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure to hold
personal property as additional security
for personal bond if additional security is
ordered by the district court, and, if so,
where such personal property should be
held (RQ-193)

You ask whether the Harris County Pre-Trial Services Agency' (the pre-trial
services agency) is authorized under chapter 17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
to hold personal property as security for a personal bond when the security is
ordered by the district court. If the pre-trial services agency is permitted to do so,
you also ask us to address how the pre-trial services agency should handle such
property.
Chapter 17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure sets forth various procedures
and requirements for setting bail to allow      the pre-trial release of criminal
defendants while ensuring their presence at trial. Although the bail bond is the
traditional vehicle for achieving t.his goal, article 17.03 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure provides that a magistrate may, in the magistrate's discretion, release the
defendant on his personal bond without sureties or other security. Article 17.04
sets forth the requisites of a personal bond. A personal bond is sufficient if it
includes the requisites of a bail bond as set out in Article 17.08, except that no
IWe note that the Harris County Pre-Trial Services Agency has been the subject of protracted
litigation and numerous orders in a federal district court proceeding, Alberti v. Sheriff of Harris County,
Civil Action No. 72-H-1094, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston
Division. In this opinion, we address the authority of the Harris County Pre-Trial Services Agency only
in terms of chapter 17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. We do not address any additional duties
that may be imposed upon it by federal court order.

-. 368

office of the ttorney Oenerat
State of Texas
January 15, 1992

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