By Thompson                                            H.B. No. 492
       74R1623 DD-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to change of venue in a criminal case.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Chapter 31, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
    1-5  amended by adding Article 31.011 to read as follows:
    1-6        Art. 31.011.  DEMOGRAPHIC REQUIREMENTS.  (a)  In a criminal
    1-7  action in which a change of venue is sought, the court shall give
    1-8  preference to a county that:
    1-9              (1)  is in the judicial district where the case is
   1-10  pending or in an adjoining district; and
   1-11              (2)  has the demographics that most closely match those
   1-12  of the county in which the case is pending.
   1-13        (b)  The court may order a change of venue to a county beyond
   1-14  an adjoining district if that county more closely matches the
   1-15  demographics of the county in which the case is pending.
   1-16        (c)  In this article, "demographics" means the proportions of
   1-17  racial and ethnic minorities in the population according to the
   1-18  most recent federal census, including the proportions of
   1-19  African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Native Americans.
   1-20        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   1-21        SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
   1-22  to a trial that commences on or after the effective date of this
   1-23  Act, whether the trial is for an offense committed before, on, or
   1-24  after the effective date.
    2-1        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
    2-2  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    2-3  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    2-4  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    2-5  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.