By:  Shelley                                           S.B. No. 256
       73R3852 GWK-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in a misdemeanor
    1-3  case.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Subsections (b), (c), and (d), Article 27.14,
    1-6  Code of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
    1-7        (b)  A defendant charged with a misdemeanor for which the
    1-8  maximum possible punishment is by fine only may, in lieu of the
    1-9  method provided in Subsection (a) of this article, mail or deliver
   1-10  in person to the court a plea of "guilty" or a plea of "nolo
   1-11  contendere" and a waiver of jury trial.  The defendant may also
   1-12  request in writing that the court notify the defendant, at the
   1-13  address stated in the request, of the amount of an appeal bond that
   1-14  the court will approve.  If the court receives a plea and waiver
   1-15  before the time the defendant is scheduled to appear in court, the
   1-16  court shall dispose of the case without requiring a court
   1-17  appearance by the defendant.  The court shall notify the defendant
   1-18  either in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, of
   1-19  the amount of any fine assessed in the case and, if requested by
   1-20  the defendant, the amount of an appeal bond that the court will
   1-21  approve.  The defendant shall pay any fine assessed or give an
   1-22  appeal bond in the amount stated in the notice before the 31st day
   1-23  after receiving the notice.
   1-24        (c)  In a misdemeanor case <arising out of a moving traffic
    2-1  violation> for which the maximum possible punishment is by fine
    2-2  only, payment of a fine, or an amount accepted by the court
    2-3  constitutes a finding of guilty in open court, as though a plea of
    2-4  nolo contendere had been entered by the defendant.
    2-5        (d)  If written notice of an offense <a traffic violation>
    2-6  for which maximum possible punishment is by fine only or of a
    2-7  violation relating to the manner, time, and place of parking has
    2-8  been prepared, delivered, and filed with the court and a legible
    2-9  duplicate copy has been given to the defendant, the written notice
   2-10  <duplicate copy> serves as a complaint to which the defendant may
   2-11  plead "guilty," "not guilty," or "nolo contendere."  If the
   2-12  defendant pleads "not guilty" to the offense, a complaint shall be
   2-13  filed that conforms to the requirements of Chapter 45 of this code,
   2-14  <Article 45.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1965,> and that
   2-15  complaint serves as an original complaint.  A defendant may waive
   2-16  the filing of a sworn complaint and elect that the prosecution
   2-17  proceed on the written notice of the charged offense if the
   2-18  defendant agrees in writing with the prosecution, signs the
   2-19  agreement, and files it with the court.
   2-20        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   2-21        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-22  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-23  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-24  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-25  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.