BILL ANALYSIS
S.B. 753
By: Shapiro
Jurisprudence
03-21-95
Committee Report (Unamended)
BACKGROUND
Several cities in Texas have secured legislation to establish
courts of record with appointed municipal court judges. Appeals
from municipal courts must be granted regardless of the basis for
appeal. However, trials conducted in municipal courts are not
recorded, which means that all appeals must undergo a completely
new trial in which all evidence and witnesses are presented again
(trial de novo). This results in the overcrowding of county court
dockets and the dismissal of many cases in order to alleviate the
backlog.
PURPOSE
As proposed, S.B. 753 authorizes the creation of municipal courts
of record in the City of Irving.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or
agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 30, Government Code, by adding Subchapter
A-1, as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A-1. IRVING
Sec. 30.0241. APPLICATION. Provides that this subchapter
applies to the City of Irving.
Sec. 30.0242. CREATION. (a) Authorizes the governing body
of the city, by ordinance, to create a municipal court of
record if it determines that the formation of the court is
necessary 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
establishing the courts 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. 30.0243. APPLICATION OF OTHER LAWS. Provides that the
general law regarding municipal courts, 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 apply to a municipal court of record unless
the law, charter provision, or ordinance is in conflict or
inconsistent with this subchapter.
Sec. 30.0244. JUDGE. (a) Provides that a municipal court of
record is presided over by a municipal judge.
(b) Requires the governing body of the city to appoint one
of the judges to be the chief judge if there is more than
one municipal judge in the city.
(c) Provides that a municipal and chief judge are appointed
by the governing body of the city for a term of two years.
(d) Sets forth the eligibility requirements for a municipal
judge.
(e) Authorizes judges to sit and act for each other in any
proceeding pending in the courts, if there is more than one
municipal court of record in the city. Provides that an act
performed by any of the judges is binding on all parties to
the proceeding.
(f) Provides that a municipal judge is entitled to a salary
from the city, the amount of which is determined by the
governing body of the city. Prohibits the salary from being
based directly or indirectly 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.
(h) Requires a municipal judge to take judicial notice of
state law, city ordinances, and the corporate limits of the
city in a case tried before a municipal court of record.
Authorizes a municipal judge to issue writs of habeas corpus
and grant writs of mandamus, injunction, and attachment
necessary to the enforcement of the jurisdiction of the
court. Authorizes a municipal judge to order a defendant
and the victim or complainant in a case before the municipal
court to engage in mediation or alternative dispute
resolution.
(i) Authorizes the governing body to appoint one or more
qualified persons to be available to serve for a municipal
judge who is temporarily absent due to certain reasons.
Requires the chief judge or municipal 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 duties of a municipal judge while serving.
Requires an alternate judge to have the same qualifications
as a municipal judge.
Sec. 30.0245. CLERK; OTHER PERSONNEL. Authorizes a city
manager to appoint a clerk of the municipal court of record
who may hire, direct, and remove the personnel authorized in
the city's annual budget for the clerk's office. Authorizes
the clerk or the clerk's assistants to keep the records of the
municipal courts of record, issue process, and generally
perform the duties for the courts that a clerk of the 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. 30.0246. COURT REPORTER. (a) Requires the city to
provide a court reporter for the purpose of preserving a
record in cases tried before the municipal court of record.
Requires the clerk of the court to appoint a qualified court
reporter. Requires the reporter to be compensated by the
city.
(b) Authorizes the court reporter to use written notes,
transcribing equipment, video or audio recording equipment,
or a combination of those methods to record the proceedings
of the court. Requires the court reporter to keep the
record for a 20-day period beginning the date after the last
day of the court proceeding, trial, or denial of motion for
new trial.
(c) Provides that the court reporter is not required to
record testimony in a case unless the judge or one of the
parties request a record. Requires a party's request for a
record to be in writing and be filed with the court before
trial. Requires the judge to tell the defendant that unless
the trial is recorded, the defendant waives the right to
appeal.
(d) Authorizes the proceedings in a municipal court of
record to be recorded by a good quality electronic recording
device, in lieu of the city's providing a court reporter at
trial. Provides that a court reporter need not be present
at trial to certify the statement of facts, if the court
clerk authorizes the electronic recording. Requires the
proceedings that are appealed to be transcribed from the
recording by an official court reporter.
Sec. 30.0247. PROSECUTIONS BY CITY ATTORNEY. (a) Requires
all prosecutions in the municipal court of record to be
conducted by the city attorney, an assistant or deputy city
attorney, or an attorney designated as a special prosecutor.
(b) Requires a trial in a criminal prosecution in the
municipal court of record to be bifurcated if either the
state or the defendant requests a bifurcated trial.
Sec. 30.0248. 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 of six persons unless that right
is waived according to law. Requires the jury to assess the
fine in a case in which it finds the defendant guilty unless
the defendant or the state requests the judge to assess a
fine.
(b) Requires a juror who serves in the municipal courts of
record to meet the qualifications provided by Chapter 62.
Sec. 30.0249. 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 state has the right to an
appeal as provided by Article 44.01, Code of Criminal
Procedure. Provides that the county criminal courts of Dallas
County have jurisdiction over an appeal.
(b) Requires the appellate court to determine each appeal
from a municipal court of record conviction on the basis of
the errors in the defendant's motion for 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 to be
from being by trial de novo.
(c) Requires a defendant to file with the municipal court
clerk a written motion for new trial not later than 10 days
after judgment is rendered in order to perfect an appeal.
Requires the motion to set forth the points of error of
which the defendant complains. Authorizes the motion or an
amended motion to amended by leave of court at any time
before action on the motion is taken, but not later than 20
days the original or amended motion is filed. Authorizes
the court for good cause to extend the time for filing or
amending but prohibits the extension from exceeding 90 days
from the original filing deadline. Provides that the
original or amended motion is overruled by operation of law
if the court does not act on the motion before the
expiration of the 30 days allowed for determination of the
motion.
(d) Requires a defendant to give notice of an appeal in
order to perfect an appeal. Authorizes a defendant to give
notice of appeal orally in open court on the overruling of
the motion if the defendant requests a hearing on the motion
for new trial. Requires the defendant to give written
notice of appeal and file the notice with the court no later
than 10 days after the motion is overruled if there is no
hearing. Authorizes the court to extend the time period for
good cause but not for more than 90 days from the original
filing deadline.
(e) Requires the court reporter to set a reasonable
transcript preparation fee. Requires the court clerk to
note the payment of the fee on the docket of the court.
Sec. 30.0250. 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
filed by a certain date. Requires the defendant to be
committed to jail unless the defendant posts the appeal bond
if the defendant is in custody.
(b) Requires the appeal bond to be in the amount of $50 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, the bond is payable to the state for the use and
benefit of the city, and to be conditioned on the
defendant's appearance in the court to which the appeal is
taken.
Sec. 30.0251. RECORD ON APPEAL. Provides that the record on
appeal consists of a transcript and a statement of facts.
Requires a court reporter to prepare the record from the
reporter's record or mechanical or videotape 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 after a hearing in response
to an affidavit by the defendant.
Sec. 30.0252. TRANSCRIPT. (a) Requires the municipal court
clerk to prepare a transcript of the municipal court of record
proceedings on the written request of the defendant or the
defendant's attorney. Requires the transcript to include
copies of certain facts of the case.
(b) Authorizes the clerk to include in the transcript
additional portions of the proceedings in the court prepared
from mechanical or videotape recordings.
Sec. 30.0253. 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 municipal
court clerk by a certain date.
Sec. 30.0254. STATEMENT OF FACTS. Requires a statement of
facts included in the record on appeal to contain a transcript
of record of proceedings and a statement of facts.
Sec. 30.0255. COMPLETION, APPROVAL, AND TRANSFER OF RECORD.
(a) Requires an appellant to file with the municipal court
clerk a statement of facts and any material to be included in
the transcript by a certain date.
(b) Requires the municipal judge to approve the record in
the manner provided for record completion, approval, and
notification in the court of appeals on completion of the
record.
(c) Requires the clerk to promptly send a court-approved
record to the appellate court clerk for filing. Requires
the appellate court clerk to notify the defendant and the
prosecuting attorney that the record has been filed.
Sec. 30.0257. 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 necessary to
expedite the trial of cases before the court that are not
inconsistent with general law.
(b) 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. 30.0258. DISPOSITION ON APPEAL. (a) Authorizes the
appellate court to reverse, affirm, dismiss, or correct the
judgment of the municipal court of record or remand for a new
trial.
(b) Requires the appellate court to presume that the venue
was proven in the trial court, the jury was properly
impaneled and sworn, the defendant was arraigned and pleaded
to the complaint, and the municipal judge certified the
charge before it was read to the jury, 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 court to deliver a written opinion or
order either sustaining or overruling each assignment of
error presented in each case decided by the appellate court.
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. 30.0259. CERTIFICATE OF APPELLATE PROCEEDINGS. Requires
a court clerk to certify the proceedings and the judgment and
to mail the certificate to the municipal court when the
judgment of the appellate court 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 further action to enforce the judgment that has been
affirmed by a municipal court of record is not necessary
except to forfeit the bond of the defendant, issue a writ of
capias for the defendant, or issue an execution against the
defendant's property.
Sec. 30.0260. EFFECT OF ORDER ON NEW TRIAL. Provides that a
case stands as if a new trial had been granted by the
municipal court of record if the appellate court awards a new
trial to the defendant.
Sec. 30.0261. APPEAL TO COURT OF APPEALS. Provides that a
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. Provides
that the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure apply to
the appeal, with exceptions.
SECTION 2. Emergency clause.
Effective date: upon passage.