By Carter                                             H.B. No. 2130
         Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
         Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to disposition of out of county crimes.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Chapter 4, Art. 4.12, Code of Criminal Procedure
 1-5     is amended as follows:
 1-6           Art. 4.12.  Misdemeanor cases; precinct in which defendant to
 1-7     be tried in justice court.
 1-8           (a)  A misdemeanor case to be tried in justice court shall be
 1-9     tried in the precinct in which the offense was committed, or in
1-10     which the defendant or any of the defendants reside, or, with the
1-11     written consent of the State and each defendant or his attorney, in
1-12     any other precinct within the county; provided that in any
1-13     misdemeanor case in which the offense was committed in a precinct
1-14     where there is no qualified justice precinct court, then trial
1-15     shall be had in the next adjacent precinct in the same county which
1-16     may have a duly qualified justice precinct court, or in the
1-17     precinct in which the defendant may reside;
1-18           (b)  provided that in any such misdemeanor case, when, [upon
1-19     disqualification] for any reason [of] all justices of the peace in
1-20     the precinct where the offense was committed, are disqualified such
1-21     case may be tried in the next adjoining precinct in the same
 2-1     county, having a duly qualified justice of the peace.
 2-2           (c)  A defendant who is taken before a magistrate in
 2-3     accordance with Article 15.18 may waive trial by jury and enter a
 2-4     plea of "guilty" or "nolo contendere."  The magistrate taking the
 2-5     plea may set a fine, give credit for time served, determine
 2-6     indigency, and discharge the defendant as the case may be.
 2-7           SECTION 2.  Chapter 15, Code of Criminal Procedure, Section
 2-8     15.08 is amended as follows:
 2-9           Art. 15.18.  ARREST FOR OUT OF COUNTY OFFENSE.
2-10           [One] A person arrested under a warrant issued in a county
2-11     other than the one in which the person is arrested shall be taken
2-12     before a magistrate of the county where the arrest takes place who
2-13     shall
2-14           (a)  take bail, if allowed by law, and immediately transmit
2-15     the bond taken to the court having jurisdiction of the offense or
2-16           (b)  in the case of a person arrested under warrant for an
2-17     offense punishable by fine only accept a plea of "guilty" or "nolo
2-18     contender", set a fine, give credit for time served and determine
2-19     indigency as the case may indicate.
2-20           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-21           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-22     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-23     emergency and an imperative necessity that the constitutional rule
2-24     requiring bills to be read on three several days in each house be
2-25     suspended, and this rule is suspended.