Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0593 Page: 4 of 7
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The Honorable Jesusa Sanchez-Vera - Page 4
a defendant to make a specified donation to a local food bank or food pantry in lieu of community
service, applicable without regard to when a defendant was initially placed on probation. Id. 16(f).8
C. Monetary Payment as a Condition of Probation
Section 11 (a)' s nonexclusive list of basic conditions of probation includes conditions which,
if imposed, require a probationer to make specified payments, such as the payment of fines and court
costs, reimbursement of appointed counsel costs, or the payment to a crime stoppers organization.
See, e.g., id. 11 (a)(8), (11), (21). But section 11 (b) limits a court's discretion to order a payment
as a condition of community supervision:
A judge may not order a defendant to make any payments as a term
or condition of community supervision, except for fines, court costs,
restitution to the victim, and other conditions related personally to the
rehabilitation of the defendant or otherwise expressly authorized by
law. The court shall consider the ability of the defendant to make
payments in ordering the defendant to make payments under this
article.
Id. 11(b).
II. Analysis
As noted above, section 16(f) of article 42.12 authorizes a judge to order as a condition of
probation that a defendant make a specified donation to a local food bank or food pantry in lieu of
community service. Id. 16(f). No other statute expressly authorizes a court to substitute a
monetary payment requirement in lieu of community service, such as a requirement of a fee payment
for CSCD purposes. But in light of the court's broad authority to modify conditions of probation,
we consider separately (1) whether a court may modify the conditions of probation to eliminate a
community service requirement, and (2) whether a court may modify the conditions of probation to
require the defendant to make a payment.
A. Authority to Eliminate Community Service from the Conditions of Probation
As a result of the 2007 amendment to section 16(a), a court's discretion to modify the
conditions of probation to eliminate community service depends in part on when the defendant was
initially placed on probation. For a defendant placed on probation prior to September 1, 2007, the
performance of community service for a minimum number of hours is generally a mandatory
condition of probation.9 But a court has authority to modify conditions of probation at any time. Id.
8Act of May 28, 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., ch. 1308, 8, 2007 Tex. Gen. Laws 4395, 4398 (Senate Bill 909 adding
section 16(f)).
9See Act of May 29, 1993, 73d Leg., R.S., ch. 900, 4.01, sec. 16(a), 1993 Tex. Gen. Laws 3586, 3734-35
(prior version of section 16(a)).(GA-0593)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0593, text, January 17, 2008; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275489/m1/4/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.