77R10029 ATP-F                           
         By Talton                                             H.B. No. 1656
         Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1656:
         By Dunnam                                         C.S.H.B. No. 1656
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the authority of an officer to return stolen property
 1-3     to its owner.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Article 47.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           Art. 47.01.  SUBJECT TO ORDER OF COURT. (a)  Except as
 1-8     provided by Subsection (b), an [An] officer who comes into custody
 1-9     of property alleged to have been stolen shall [must] hold it
1-10     subject to the order of the proper court only if the ownership of
1-11     the property is contested or disputed[, except that if the officer
1-12     recovers, within 14 days from the date it was reported stolen,
1-13     property which is subject to Chapter 501, Transportation Code, the
1-14     officer need not hold the property subject to the order of the
1-15     proper court but may release the property to the owner, as shown on
1-16     the certificate of title].
1-17           (b)  An officer who comes into custody of property governed
1-18     by Chapter 371, Finance Code, that is alleged to have been stolen
1-19     shall hold the property subject to the order of the proper court
1-20     regardless of whether the ownership of the property is contested or
1-21     disputed.
1-22           SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.