74R13560 PEP-D
By Wentworth S.B. No. 886
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 886:
By Talton C.S.S.B. No. 886
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain procedures for the handling of a case in a
1-3 justice or municipal court.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Article 45.40, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 Art. 45.40. MISTRIAL. A jury shall be discharged if it
1-8 fails to agree to a verdict after being kept together a reasonable
1-9 time. If there be time left on the same day, another jury may be
1-10 impaneled to try the cause, or the justice may adjourn for not more
1-11 than 30 <two> days and again impanel a jury to try such cause.
1-12 SECTION 2. Chapter 30, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
1-13 amended by adding Section 30.007 to read as follows:
1-14 Sec. 30.007. MISTRIAL IN JUSTICE COURT OR MUNICIPAL COURT.
1-15 If a jury in a trial in a justice court or a municipal court is
1-16 discharged without having rendered a verdict, the cause may be
1-17 tried again as soon as practicable.
1-18 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
1-19 applies to a trial in a justice court or municipal court that
1-20 begins on or after that date. For purposes of this section, a
1-21 trial begins on the date a jury is impaneled. A trial that begins
1-22 in a justice court or municipal court before the effective date of
1-23 this Act is governed by the law in effect when the trial began, and
1-24 that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
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.