By Capelo                                              H.B. No. 618
         77R2545 GWK-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to officers authorized by law to hold an inquest.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Article 49.07(c), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
 1-5     amended to read as follows:
 1-6           (c)(1)  If the justice of the peace who serves the precinct
 1-7     in which the body was found is not available to conduct an inquest,
 1-8     a person required to give notice under this article shall notify
 1-9     the nearest available justice of the peace serving the county[,
1-10     municipal court judge, county judge, or judge of the county court
1-11     at law of the county in which the death occurred or] in which the
1-12     body was found, and that justice of the peace shall conduct the
1-13     inquest.
1-14                 (2)  If no justice of the peace serving the county in
1-15     which the body was found is available to conduct an inquest, a
1-16     person required to give notice under this article shall notify the
1-17     county judge, and the county judge shall initiate the inquest. The
1-18     county judge may exercise any power and perform any duty otherwise
1-19     granted to or imposed under this subchapter on the justice of the
1-20     peace serving the county in which the body was found, except that
1-21     not later than the fifth day after the day on which the inquest is
1-22     initiated, the county judge shall transfer all information obtained
1-23     by the judge to the justice of the peace in whose precinct the body
1-24     was found for final disposition of the matter.
 2-1           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
 2-2     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
 2-3     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
 2-4     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
 2-5     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.