BILL ANALYSIS S.B. 795 By: Harris Jurisprudence 03-16-95 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Currently, the municipal court in Mansfield is not a court of record, which means that all citations issued in the City of Mansfield have an automatic right of appeal to county courts. The defendant need 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, theoretically, a new trial is held on the merits without regard to anything that might have happened at municipal court. In practice, what happens at the county level is either because the backlog is so great that 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 only be based upon errors of law. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 795 authorizes the governing body of the City of Mansfield to create municipal courts of record. 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 CC, as follows: SUBCHAPTER CC. MANSFIELD Sec. 30.1041. APPLICATION. Provides that this subchapter applies to the City of Mansfield (city). Sec. 30.1042. CREATION. 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. 30.1043. APPLICATION OF OTHER LAWS. Provides that the general law regarding municipal courts, the general law 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 apply to a municipal court of record unless the law, charter provision, or ordinance is in conflict or inconsistent with this subchapter. Sec. 30.1044. 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 judge and the chief judge is appointed by the governing body of the city for a term of two years. (d) Requires a municipal judge to be a licensed attorney in good standing and have two or more years of experience in the practice of law in this state. Requires a judge to be a citizen of the United States and of this state. Requires the judge to devote as much time to the office as it requires. (e) Authorizes the judges to exchange benches and 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, which may not be diminished during the judge's term of office. 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 for incompetence, 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, and attachment and other writs necessary to the enforcement of the jurisdiction of the court, to issue writs of habeas corpus, and administrative search warrants. (i) Requires the governing body of the city to appoint a qualified 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 one or more qualified persons to be available to serve for a municipal judge who is temporarily absent for 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, while serving, has all the powers and duties of a municipal judge. Sec. 30.1045. MAGISTRATES. (a) Authorizes the governing body to appoint one or more magistrates. (b) Provides that a magistrate does not have to possess all the qualifications necessary to be a municipal court of record judge. (c) Prohibits a magistrate from presiding over the court or hearing contested cases. (d) Sets forth certain functions and powers of a magistrate. Sec. 30.1046. CLERK; OTHER PERSONNEL. Requires the city manager or city administrator 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. Requires the clerk or clerk's deputies to keep certain records and perform the duties for the courts that a clerk of the county court is required to perform in accordance with statutes, the city charter, and city ordinances. Sec. 30.1047. 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 an official 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 a record to be kept for the 20-day period beginning the day after the last day of the court proceeding, trial, or denial of motion for new trial, whichever occurs last. (c) Provides that the court reporter is not required to record testimony in a case unless the judge or one of the parties requests a record. Requires a party's request for a record to be in writing and be 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 good quality electronic recording device, in lieu of 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 governing body authorizes the electronic recording. Requires the proceedings that are appealed to be transcribed from the recording by an official court reporter. Makes conforming changes. Sec. 30.1048. 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 city attorney. Sec. 30.1049. JURY. (a) Provides that a person who is brought before a municipal court of record and who is charged with an offense is entitled to be tried by a jury of six persons unless that right is waived according to law. Requires the court to determine all matters of law and to charge the jury on the law. (b) Requires a juror who serves in the municipal courts of record to meet the qualifications provided by Chapter 62. Sec. 30.1050. 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 no right to an appeal or to a new trial. (b) Requires the appellate court to determine each appeal from a municipal court of record conviction on the basis of the errors that are set forth 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 by trial de novo. (c) Requires a defendant, to perfect an appeal, to file with the municipal court clerk a written motion for new trial not later than the 10th day after the date on which judgment is rendered. Requires the motion to set forth the points of error of which the defendant complains. Authorizes the motion or an amended motion to be amended by leave of court at any time before action on the motion is take, but not later than the 20th day after the date on which the original or amended motion is filed. Authorizes the court to extend the filing or amending deadline for no more than 90 days from 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 a defendant, to perfect an appeal, to give notice of the 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 new trial. Requires the defendant to give written notice of appeal and file the notice with the court no later than the 10th day after the date on which the motion is overruled. Makes conforming changes. Sec. 30.1052. RECORD ON APPEAL. Provides that the record on appeal consists of a transcript and if necessary, a statement of facts. Requires the 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. Requires the court to promptly refund the cost to the defendant, if the case is reversed on appeal. Sec. 30.1053. TRANSCRIPT. (a) Requires the municipal court to prepare under the clerk's hand and seal 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 and pertinent documents. (b) Authorizes the clerk to include in the transcript additional portions of the proceedings in the court prepared from mechanical or videotape recordings. Sec. 30.1054. 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 not later than the 60th day after the date on which the notice of appeal is given or filed. Sec. 30.1055. STATEMENT OF FACTS. Requires a statement of facts included in the record on appeal to contain a transcript of all record proceedings and a brief statement of the facts of the case proven at trial. Sec. 30.1056. COMPLETION, APPROVAL, AND TRANSFER OF RECORD. (a) Requires the parties to file certain information with the municipal court clerk no later than the 60th day after the date on which the notice of appeal is given or filed. (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. 30.1057. 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 appeals. (b) Requires the defendant to file a brief with the appellate court clerk no later than the 15th day after the date on which the transcript and statement of facts are filed with that clerk. 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 no later than 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 on filing. Sec. 30.1058. 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) Requires a bond to be payable to the state for the use and benefit of the city. (c) Authorizes a peace officer to serve a process issued by a municipal court of record. (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. 30.1059. DISPOSITION ON APPEAL. (a) Authorizes the appellate court, according to the law and the nature of the case, to affirm a judgment of a municipal court of record, reverse and remand for a new trial, reverse and dismiss the case, or reform and correct the judgment. (b) Requires the appellate court to presume, 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 fact, that certain procedures were complied with. (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. 30.1060. CERTIFICATE OF APPELLATE PROCEEDINGS. Requires the clerk of the court 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 if the municipal court of record judgment is affirmed, further action to enforce the judgment is not necessary with exceptions. Sec. 30.1061. EFFECT OF ORDER OF NEW TRIAL. Provides that if an 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. 30.1062. 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. Provides that the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure relating to direct appeals from a county or a district court to the court of appeals apply to the appeal, with exceptions. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.