Sec. 121.002. OVERSIGHT. (a) The lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of representatives may assign to appropriate legislative committees duties relating to the oversight of specialty court programs.

(b) For the purpose of determining the eligibility of a specialty court program to receive state or federal grant funds administered by a state agency, the governor or a legislative committee to which duties are assigned under Subsection (a) may request the state auditor to perform a management, operations, or financial or accounting audit of the program.

(c) Notwithstanding any other law, a specialty court program may not operate until the judge, magistrate, or coordinator:

(1) provides to the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System:

(A) written notice of the program;

(B) any resolution or other official declaration under which the program was established; and

(C) a copy of the applicable strategic plan that incorporates duties related to supervision that will be required under the program; and

(2) receives from the office written verification of the program's compliance with Subdivision (1).

(d) A specialty court program shall:

(1) comply with all programmatic best practices recommended by the Specialty Courts Advisory Council under Section 772.0061(b)(2) and approved by the Texas Judicial Council; and

(2) report to the criminal justice division of the governor's office and the Texas Judicial Council any information required by the division or council regarding the performance of the program.

(e) A specialty court program that fails to comply with Subsections (c) and (d) is not eligible to receive any state or federal grant funds administered by any state agency.

(f) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall:

(1) on request provide technical assistance to the specialty court programs;

(2) coordinate with an entity funded by the criminal justice division of the governor's office that provides services to specialty court programs;

(3) monitor the specialty court programs for compliance with programmatic best practices as required by Subsection (d)(1); and

(4) notify the criminal justice division of the governor's office if a specialty court program fails to comply with programmatic best practices as required by Subsection (d)(1).

(g) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall coordinate with and provide information to the criminal justice division of the governor's office on request of the division.

Added by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 747 (S.B. 462), Sec. 1.01, eff. September 1, 2013.

Amended by:

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1051 (H.B. 1930), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2015.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 606 (S.B. 891), Sec. 9.05, eff. September 1, 2019.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 865 (H.B. 2955), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2019.