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HB26-1232 • 2026

Court Costs Assessed to Juveniles

Under current law, courts may not assess or collect administrative fees, costs, and surcharges in juvenile delinquency cases involving a juvenile under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court when a ju

Children Crime Parental Rights
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Rep. J. Bacon, Rep. C. Espenoza, Sen. J. Gonzales, Sen. W. Lindstedt, Rep. A. Boesenecker, Rep. K. Brown, Rep. S. Camacho, Rep. M. Carter, Rep. L. García, Rep. E. Hamrick, Rep. J. Jackson, Rep. J. Joseph, Rep. M. Lindsay, Rep. J. Mabrey, Rep. J. McCluskie, Rep. K. Nguyen, Rep. J. Phillips, Rep. N. Ricks, Rep. E. Sirota, Rep. T. Story, Sen. J. Amabile, Sen. M. Ball, Sen. A. Benavidez, Sen. J. Coleman, Sen. L. Cutter, Sen. L. Daugherty, Sen. T. Exum, Sen. N. Hinrichsen, Sen. I. Jodeh, Sen. C. Kipp, Sen. C. Kolker, Sen. J. Marchman, Sen. K. Wallace, Sen. M. Weissman
Last action
2026-05-04
Official status
Governor Signed
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official summary mentions that current law already prohibits fees for certain crimes, but does not list which specific crimes are covered.

Ban on Court Fees for Juvenile Crimes

This law stops courts and the state from charging administrative fees, costs, or surcharges to juveniles under 18 at the time of a crime, as well as their parents, guardians, or legal custodians.

What This Bill Does

  • Prohibits courts or the state from assessing or collecting administrative fees in juvenile delinquency cases when the juvenile was under 18 years old when the crime was committed.
  • Stops the collection of costs and surcharges against a juvenile, their parents, guardian, or legal custodian for these crimes.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Juveniles who were under 18 years old at the time they committed a crime.
  • Parents, guardians, or legal custodians of those juveniles.
  • Courts handling juvenile delinquency cases.

Terms To Know

Juvenile
A person who was under the age of 18 when a crime was committed.
Administrative fees, costs, and surcharges
Money charged by courts or the state in addition to fines for court expenses or penalties.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The official summary does not specify an effective date.
  • Current law already bans these fees when a juvenile is charged with certain crimes; this bill expands that ban based on age at the time of the crime rather than specific charges.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

L.001

SEN Judiciary

Passed [*]

Plain English: This amendment removes references to fines from the bill so that it only applies when a juvenile is committed.

  • The text changes phrases like 'committed and' or 'and fines' to just say 'committed'.
  • It deletes all mentions of fines in multiple sections of the law.
  • The amendment only shows where words are deleted but does not explain why removing fines changes how courts handle cases.
  • Without seeing the full original bill, it is unclear exactly which types of fees or costs were originally included with fines.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-04 Governor

    Governor Signed

  2. 2026-04-23 Governor

    Sent to the Governor

  3. 2026-04-22 Senate

    Signed by the President of the Senate

  4. 2026-04-22 House

    Signed by the Speaker of the House

  5. 2026-04-02 House

    House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass

  6. 2026-03-30 House

    House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Laid Over Daily

  7. 2026-03-27 Senate

    Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  8. 2026-03-26 Senate

    Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee

  9. 2026-03-23 Senate

    Senate Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to Senate Committee of the Whole

  10. 2026-03-18 Senate

    Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Judiciary

  11. 2026-03-13 House

    House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

  12. 2026-03-12 House

    House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments

  13. 2026-03-10 House

    House Committee on Judiciary Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole

  14. 2026-02-18 House

    Introduced In House - Assigned to Judiciary

Official Summary Text

Under current law, courts may not assess or collect administrative fees, costs, and surcharges in juvenile delinquency cases involving a juvenile under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court when a juvenile has been charged with or adjudicated of certain crimes. The act adds that courts or the state is prohibited from assessing or collecting administrative fees, costs, and surcharges assessed against a juvenile or the juvenile's parents, guardian, or legal custodian when the juvenile was under 18 years old when the crime was committed.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)