By Talton H.B. No. 1862
75R7789 GWK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the disposition of certain property seized in
1-3 connection with the commission of a criminal offense.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 18.18(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) Following the [final] conviction of or grant of deferred
1-8 adjudication to a person for possession of a gambling device or
1-9 equipment, altered gambling equipment, or gambling paraphernalia,
1-10 for an offense involving a criminal instrument, for an offense
1-11 involving an obscene device or material, the court entering the
1-12 judgment of conviction or grant of deferred adjudication shall
1-13 order that the machine, device, gambling equipment or gambling
1-14 paraphernalia, instrument, obscene device or material be destroyed
1-15 or forfeited to the state. Not later than the 30th day after the
1-16 [final] conviction of or grant of deferred adjudication to a
1-17 person for an offense involving a prohibited weapon, the court
1-18 entering the judgment of conviction or grant of deferred
1-19 adjudication on its own motion, on the motion of the prosecuting
1-20 attorney in the case, or on the motion of the law enforcement
1-21 agency initiating the complaint on notice to the prosecuting
1-22 attorney in the case if the prosecutor fails to move for the order
1-23 shall order that the prohibited weapon be destroyed or forfeited to
1-24 the law enforcement agency that initiated the complaint. If the
2-1 court fails to enter the order within the time required by this
2-2 subsection, any magistrate in the county in which the offense
2-3 occurred may enter the order. Following the [final] conviction of
2-4 or grant of deferred adjudication to a person for an offense
2-5 involving dog fighting, the court entering the judgment of
2-6 conviction shall order that any dog-fighting equipment be destroyed
2-7 or forfeited to the state. Destruction of dogs, if necessary, must
2-8 be carried out by a veterinarian licensed in this state or, if one
2-9 is not available, by trained personnel of a humane society or an
2-10 animal shelter. If forfeited, the court shall order the contraband
2-11 delivered to the state, any political subdivision of the state, or
2-12 to any state institution or agency. If gambling proceeds were
2-13 seized, the court shall order them forfeited to the state and shall
2-14 transmit them to the grand jury of the county in which they were
2-15 seized for use in investigating alleged violations of the Penal
2-16 Code, or to the state, any political subdivision of the state, or
2-17 to any state institution or agency.
2-18 SECTION 2. Section 18.19(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
2-19 amended to read as follows:
2-20 (d) A person either convicted or receiving deferred
2-21 adjudication under Penal Code Chapter 46 is entitled to the weapon
2-22 seized upon request to the law enforcement agency holding the
2-23 weapon. However, the court entering the judgment shall order the
2-24 weapon destroyed or forfeited to the state for use by the law
2-25 enforcement agency holding the weapon if:
2-26 (1) the person does not request the weapon within 60
2-27 days after the date of the judgment of conviction;
3-1 (2) the person has been previously convicted under
3-2 Penal Code Chapter 46;
3-3 (3) the weapon is one defined as a prohibited weapon
3-4 under Penal Code Chapter 46;
3-5 (4) the offense for which the person is convicted or
3-6 receives deferred adjudication was committed in or on the premises
3-7 of a playground, school, video arcade facility, or youth center, as
3-8 those terms are defined by Section 481.134, Health and Safety
3-9 Code; [or]
3-10 (5) the court determines based on the prior criminal
3-11 history of the defendant or based on the circumstances surrounding
3-12 the commission of the offense that possession of the seized weapon
3-13 would pose a threat to the community or one or more individuals; or
3-14 (6) the person agrees to forfeiture of the weapon as a
3-15 condition of an acceptance by the court of the defendant's plea,
3-16 regardless of whether the condition is part of a plea agreement
3-17 between the person and the attorney representing the state.
3-18 SECTION 3. This Act applies only to the disposition of
3-19 property forfeited on the basis of a judgment of conviction or a
3-20 grant of deferred adjudication entered on or after the effective
3-21 date of this Act. The disposition of property forfeited on the
3-22 basis of a judgment of conviction or a grant of deferred
3-23 adjudication entered before the effective date of this Act is
3-24 covered by the law in effect when the judgment or grant was
3-25 entered, and the former law is continued in effect for that
3-26 purpose.
3-27 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-1 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.