1-1     By:  Ritter (Senate Sponsor - Bernsen)                 H.B. No. 261
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 2, 2001;
 1-3     April 3, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Criminal Justice; April 30, 2001, reported favorably by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 30, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the transfer of a defendant from county jail to the
 1-9     institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
1-10     pending an appeal by the defendant.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1. Section 4, Article 42.09, Code of Criminal
1-13     Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-14           Sec. 4.  If a defendant is convicted of a felony, is eligible
1-15     for release on bail pending appeal under Article 44.04(b), and [his
1-16     sentence is a term of ten years or less and he] gives notice of
1-17     appeal, he shall be transferred to the institutional division of
1-18     the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on a commitment pending a
1-19     mandate from the court of appeals or the Court of Criminal Appeals
1-20     upon request in open court or upon written request to the
1-21     sentencing court.  Upon a valid transfer to the institutional
1-22     division under this section, the defendant may not thereafter be
1-23     released on bail pending his appeal.
1-24           SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a
1-25     vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
1-26     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
1-27     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
1-28     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
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