Texas Government Code 61.003 – Donation of Reimbursement
(a) Each person who reports for jury service shall be provided the opportunity, either through a written form or electronically, to direct the county treasurer or a designated county employee to donate all, a specific amount designated by the person, or the entire amount divided among the funds, programs, and county entities listed in this subsection of the person’s daily reimbursement under this chapter to:
(1) the compensation to victims of crime fund established under Subchapter J, Chapter 56B, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(2) the child welfare, child protective services, or child services board of the county appointed under § 264.005, Family Code, that serves abused and neglected children;
(3) any program selected by the commissioners court that is operated by a public or private nonprofit organization and that provides shelter and services to victims of family violence;
(4) any other program approved by the commissioners court of the county, including a program established under Article 56A.205, Code of Criminal Procedure, that offers psychological counseling in criminal cases involving graphic evidence or testimony;
(5) a veterans treatment court program established by the commissioners court as provided by Chapter 124; or
(6) a veterans county service office established by the commissioners court as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 434.
(a-1) The form letter provided under Subsection (a) must include a blank in which a person may enter the amount of the daily reimbursement the person wishes to donate.
Terms Used In Texas Government Code 61.003
- Comptroller: means the state comptroller of public accounts. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Juror: A person who is on the jury.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Signed: includes any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(a-2) The form letter provided under Subsection (a) must contain a brief description of the programs designated for donation under that subsection.
(b) The county treasurer or a designated county employee shall collect any information provided under Subsection (a) directing the county treasurer to donate the reimbursement of a person who reports for jury service.
(c) The county treasurer shall:
(1) send all donations made under Subsection (a)(1) to the comptroller, at the time and in the manner prescribed by the attorney general, for deposit to the credit of the compensation to victims of crime fund;
(2) deposit donations made to the county child welfare board under Subsection (a)(2) in a fund established by the county to be used by the child welfare board in a manner authorized by the commissioners court of the county; and
(3) send all donations made under Subsection (a)(3), (a)(4), or (a)(6) directly to the program or office, as applicable, specified on the form letter signed by the person who reported for jury service.
(d) Notwithstanding this section, a juror reimbursement donation program established before January 1, 1995, may solicit juror donations and provide all funds collected in the name of that program to the charities served by that program on January 1, 1995.
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a county that has adopted a system or method of payment authorized by § 113.048, Local Government Code, may provide a person who reported for jury service in the county an opportunity to donate all, or a specific part designated by the juror, of the juror’s daily reimbursement by completing a self-executing application on a form prescribed by the commissioners court that is provided after jury service is concluded.