74(R) HB 3222 Senate Committee Report

BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3222
By: Dear (Moncrief)
Jurisprudence
5-25-95
Senate Committee Report (Unamended)
BACKGROUND

The municipal court in River Oaks is not a court of record.
Consequently, all persons issued citations in the City of River
Oaks have an automatic right of appeal to county courts. The
defendant must only plead no contest or guilty, give notice of
appeal, submit a surety bond, and the case is appealed to the
county. At the county level, a new trial is held on the merits
without regard to anything that might have happened at municipal
court. In practice, either the backlog at the county level is so
great the citations are never reached, or if the case is reached,
there is a plea bargain with costs going to the county. The ease
of appeal from a municipal court that is not a court of record
impairs the city's ability to enforce traffic laws and local
ordinances. An appeal from a municipal court of record may only
occur after trial, and may be based upon errors of law.

PURPOSE

As proposed, H.B. 3222 authorizes the creation of municipal courts
of records in the City of River Oaks; authorizes municipalities to
contract with other municipalities that have criminal courts of
record to establish joint municipal courts of record.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is granted
to the municipal court of record under SECTION 1 (Section
30.2498(a), Government Code) and to appellate courts under SECTION
1 (Section 30.2498(d), Government Code of this bill.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 30, Government Code, by adding Subchapter
HH, as follows:

SUBCHAPTER HH. RIVER OAKS

Sec. 30.2481. APPLICATION. Applies this subchapter to the
City of River Oaks (city).

Sec. 30.2482. CREATION. (a) Authorizes the governing body of
the city to create a municipal court of record to provide a
more efficient disposition of cases arising in the city.
Authorizes the governing body, by ordinance, to determine the
number of municipal courts of record that are required to
dispose of the cases and to establish as many as are needed.
Requires the ordinance to give each court a numerical
designation, beginning with "Municipal Court of Record No. 1."

(b) Prohibits a municipal court of record from existing
concurrently with municipal courts that are not courts of
record in the city.

(c) Provides that a municipal court of record has no terms
and may sit at any time for the transaction of the business
of the court.
Sec. 30.2483. APPLICATION OF OTHER LAWS. Applies the general
law regarding municipal courts and regarding justice courts on
matters not covered by the law regarding municipal courts, and
any charter provision or ordinance of the city relating to the
municipal court to a municipal court of record unless the law,
charter, provision, or ordinance is in conflict or
inconsistent with this subchapter.

Sec. 30.2484. JUDGE. (a) Provides that a municipal court of
record is presided over by a municipal judge.

(b) Requires the governing body to appoint one of the judges
to be the chief judge.

(d) Sets forth requirements to be a municipal judge.

(e) Authorizes the judges to exchange benches and to sit and
act for each other in any proceeding. Provides that an act
performed by any of the judges is binding on all parties to
the proceeding.

(f) Entitles a municipal judge to a salary from the city,
the amount of which is determined by the governing body, and
prohibits the salary from being diminished during the
judge's term of office. Prohibits the salary from being
based on fines, fees, or costs collected by the court.

(g) Authorizes a municipal judge to be removed from office
by the governing body of the city at any time for
incompetency, misconduct, malfeasance, or disability.

(h) Requires a municipal judge to take judicial notice of
the city ordinances and the corporate limits of the city in
a case tried before a municipal court of record. Authorizes
a municipal judge to grant writs of mandamus, injunction,
attachment, and other writs for the enforcement of the
jurisdiction of the court and to issue writs of habeas
corpus in cases in which the offense charged is within the
jurisdiction of the court. Authorizes a municipal judge to
issue administrative search warrants.

(i) Requires the governing body to appoint a person to fill
a vacancy in the office of municipal judge for the remainder
of the unexpired term.

(j) Authorizes the governing body to appoint qualified
persons to be available to serve for a municipal judge who
is temporarily absent. Requires the chief judge to select
one of the persons appointed by the governing body to serve
during an absence. Provides that an alternate judge has all
the powers and requires the judge to discharge all the
duties of a municipal judge. Requires an alternate judge to
have the same qualifications as a municipal judge.
Sec. 30.2485. MAGISTRATES. (a) Authorizes the governing body
to appoint magistrates in addition to the magistrates
appointed under Article 2.09, Code of Criminal Procedure.

(b) Provides that a magistrate does not have to possess all
the qualifications necessary to be a municipal court of
record judge.

(d) Sets forth actions a magistrate is authorized to take.
Sec. 30.2486. CLERK; OTHER PERSONNEL. Requires the city
adminstrator of the city to appoint a clerk of the municipal
court of record (clerk) who may hire, direct, and remove the
personnel authorized in the city's annual budget for the
clerk's office. Requires the clerk or deputies to keep the
records of the municipal courts of record, issue process, and
perform the duties for the courts that a clerk of a county
court exercising criminal jurisdiction is required by law to
perform for that court. Requires the clerk to perform the
duties in accordance with statutes, the city charter, and city
ordinances.

Sec. 30.2487. COURT REPORTER. (a) Requires the city to
provide a court reporter to preserve a record in cases tried
before the municipal court of record. Requires the clerk to
appoint the court reporter, who must meet the qualifications
for official court reporters. Requires the report to be
compensated by the city.

(b) Authorizes the court reporter to use various methods to
record the court proceedings. Requires the record to be
kept for a certain time period.

(c) Provides that the court reporter is not required to
record testimony unless the judge or one of the parties
requests a record. Requires a party's request for a record
to be in writing and filed with the court before trial.

(d) Authorizes the governing body to provide that
proceedings in a municipal court of record may be recorded
by a recording device. Provides that the court reporter
need not be present at trial to certify the statement of
facts. Requires the recording to be kept for a certain time
period. Requires the proceedings that are appealed to be
transcribed from the recording by an official court
reporter.

Sec. 30.2488. PROSECUTIONS BY CITY ATTORNEY. Requires all
prosecutions in the municipal court of record to be conducted
by the city attorney or an assistant or deputy.

Sec. 30.2489. JURY. (a) Entitles a person who is brought
before a municipal court of record and who is charged with an
offense to be tried by a jury unless that right is waived.
Requires the jury to decide all questions of fact or
credibility of witnesses. Requires the court to determine all
matters of law and to charge the jury on the law.

(b) Requires a juror to meet the qualifications provided by
Chapter 62.
Sec. 30.2490. APPEAL. (a) Provides that a defendant has the
right of appeal from a judgment or conviction in a municipal
court of record. Provides that the county criminal courts of
Tarrant County have jurisdiction over an appeal. Provides
that the state has not right to an appeal or to a new trial.

(b) Requires the appellate court to determine each appeal on
the basis of the errors that are set forth in the
defendant's motion for a new trial and that are presented in
the transcript and statement of facts prepared from the
proceedings leading to the conviction. Prohibits an appeal
from the municipal court of record from being by trial de
novo.

(c) Requires the defendant to file with the clerk a written
motion for new trial by the 10th day after the judgment is
rendered. Requires the motion to set forth the points of
error of which the defendant complains. Sets forth
authorized time for the motion or an amended motion to be
amended. Authorizes the court to extend the time for filing
or amending up to 90 days from the original filing deadline.
Provides that if the court does not act on the motion before
the expiration of the 30 days allowed for determination of
the motion, the original or amended motion is overruled by
operation of law.

(d) Requires the defendant to give notice of the appeal to
perfect an appeal. Authorizes the defendant to give the
notice of appeal orally in open court on the overruling of
the motion if the defendant requests a hearing on the motion
for a new trial. Requires the defendant to give written
notice of appeal and to file the notice with the court by
the 10th day after the date on which the motion is
overruled. Authorizes the court to extend that period up to
90 days from the original deadline.
Sec. 30.2491. APPEAL BOND. (a) Prohibits the defendant from
taking an appeal until the defendant files an appeal bond with
the municipal court of record if the defendant is not in
custody. Requires the bond to be approved by the court and be
filed within a certain time period. Requires the defendant to
be committed to jail unless the defendant posts the appeal
bond.

(b) Requires the appeal bond to be in the amount of $450 or
double the amount of the fine and costs adjudged against the
defendant, whichever is greater. Requires the bond to state
that the defendant was convicted in the case and has
appealed, to be payable to the state for the city's use, and
to be conditioned on the defendant's appearance in the court
to which the appeal is taken.
Sec. 30.2492. RECORD ON APPEAL. Provides that the record on
appeal consists of a transcript and a statement of facts.
Requires the court reporter to prepare the record from the
recordings of the proceedings. Requires the defendant to pay
for the cost of the transcription. Requires the court to
order the reporter to prepare the record without charge to the
defendant if the court finds that the defendant is unable to
pay or give security for the record on appeal. Requires the
court to refund the cost to the defendant if the case is
reversed on appeal.

Sec. 30.2493. TRANSCRIPT. (a) Requires the clerk to prepare
a transcript of the proceedings on the request of the
defendant or the defendant's attorney. Sets forth documents,
copies of which are required to be included in the transcript.

(b) Authorizes the clerk to include in the transcript
additional portions of the proceedings in the court prepared
from mechanical or videotape recordings.
Sec. 30.2494. BILLS OF EXCEPTION. Authorizes either party to
include bills of exception in the transcript subject to the
applicable provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Requires the bills of exception to be filed with the clerk by
the 60th day after the notice of appeal is given or filed.

Sec. 30.2495. STATEMENTS OF FACTS. Sets forth documents that
are required to be included in the record on appeal.

Sec. 30.2496. COMPLETION, APPROVAL, AND TRANSFER OF RECORD.
(a) Requires the parties to file certain documents with the
clerk within a certain time period.

(b) Requires the judge to approve the record in the manner
provided for completion, approval, and notification in the
court of appeal.

(c) Requires the clerk to send the record to the appellate
court clerk for filing after the court approves the record.
Requires the appellate court clerk to notify the defendant
and the prosecuting attorney that the record has been filed.
Sec. 30.2497. BRIEF ON APPEAL. (a) Requires a defendant's
brief on appeal from a municipal court of record to present
points of error in the manner required by law for a brief on
appeal to the court of appeal.

(b) Requires the defendant to file the brief with the
appellate court clerk within a certain time period.
Requires the defendant or the defendant's attorney to
certify that the brief has been properly mailed to the
prosecuting attorney.

(c) Requires the prosecuting attorney to file the appellee's
brief with the appellate court clerk by the 15th day after
the date on which the defendant's brief is filed.

(d) Requires each party to deliver a copy of the brief to
the opposing party and to the municipal judge.
Sec. 30.2498. COURT RULES. (a) Provides that the Code of
Criminal Procedure governs the trial of cases before the
municipal court of record. Authorizes the court to make and
enforce all rules of practice and procedure to expedite the
trial of cases before the court.

(b) Requires a bond to be payable to the state for the use
and benefit of the city.

(d) Authorizes the appellate courts to make and enforce all
rules of practice and procedure that are not inconsistent
with general law and that are necessary to expedite the
dispatch of appeals from the municipal court of record.
Sec. 30.2499. DISPOSITION ON APPEAL. (a) Sets forth
authorized actions for the appellate court, according to law
and the nature of the case.

(b) Requires the appellate court to presume certain
information, unless the matter was made an issue in the
trial court or it affirmatively appears to the contrary from
the transcript or the statement of facts.

(c) Requires the appellate court to deliver an opinion or
order sustaining or overruling each assignment of error
presented in each case. Requires the court to set forth the
reasons for its decision. Requires the appellate court
clerk to mail copies of the decision to the parties and to
the municipal judge as soon as the decision is rendered.
Sec. 30.2500. CERTIFICATE OF APPELLATE PROCEEDINGS. Requires
the appellate court clerk to certify the proceedings and the
judgment and to mail the certificate to the municipal court
when the judgment becomes final. Requires the court clerk to
file the certificate with the papers in the case and note the
certificate on the case docket. Provides that if the
municipal court of record judgment is affirmed, further action
to enforce the judgment is not necessary except to perform
certain actions.

Sec. 30.2501. EFFECT OF ORDER OF NEW TRIAL. Provides that if
the appellate court awards a new trial to the defendant, the
case stands as if a new trial had been granted by the
municipal court of record.

Sec. 30.2502. APPEAL TO COURT OF APPEALS. Provides that the
defendant has the right to appeal to the court of appeals if
the fine assessed against the defendant exceeds $100 and if
the judgment is affirmed by the appellate court. Applies the
provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure relating to
direct appeals from a county or a district court to the court
of appeals to the appeal, with exceptions.

Sec. 30.2503. JOINT COURTS; CREATION. (a) Authorizes the
governing body of the city to contract with one or more
municipalities that have municipal courts of record to
establish a joint municipal court of record (joint court) to
serve the contracting municipalities.

(b) Provides that a joint court replaces each municipality's
individual court of record.
Sec. 30.2504. JOINT COURT: JUDGES. (a) Provides that a
joint court is presided over by a municipal judge or alternate
who is appointed by the governing bodies of the contracting
municipalities for a two-year term.

(b) Authorizes the judge of a joint court to be removed from
office by the governing bodies of the contracting
municipalities for incompetency, misconduct, malfeasance, or
inability to perform the tasks of the office.
Sec. 30.2505. JOINT COURTS: JURISDICTION. (a) Provides that
the jurisdiction of a joint court is the combined jurisdiction
of the municipal courts of the contracting municipalities.

(b) Provides that an appeal from a joint court is to the
county criminal court of the county in which the offense
occurred, or to the county court of law if the county has no
criminal court.
Sec. 30.2506. JOINT COURT: PROSECUTING ATTORNEY. Authorizes
a municipality that contracts to provide its own prosecuting
attorney or the contracting municipalities may agree on the
selection of one or more prosecuting attorneys.

Sec. 30.2507. JOINT COURT: APPLICABLE LAW. (a) Requires the
municipalities, by contract, to select one of the contracting
municipality's enabling statutes as the source of applicable
procedural requirements for the operation of the joint court.

(b) Applies all of the provisions of the statute to the
operation of the joint court. Provides that if there is a
conflict with any of the provisions in Sections 30.2503-30.2506, those sections control.

(c) Requires any matter not governed by the enabling
legislation or other law to be resolved by the contract
entered into under Section 30.2503.
SECTION 2. Emergency clause.
Effective date: upon passage.