By Dunnam                                             H.B. No. 2288
         77R12593 E                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the release of a criminal defendant on bail pending
 1-3     appeal.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Article 44.04(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (b)  The defendant may not be released on bail pending the
 1-8     appeal from any felony conviction where the punishment equals or
 1-9     exceeds 10 years confinement or where the defendant has been
1-10     sentenced to a term of confinement for [convicted of] an offense
1-11     listed under Section 3g(a)(1), Article 42.12, but shall immediately
1-12     be placed in custody and the bail discharged.
1-13           SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
1-14     applies only to a request for bail pending appeal that is made by a
1-15     defendant on or after the effective date of this Act.  A request
1-16     for bail pending appeal that is made by a defendant before the
1-17     effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the
1-18     offense for which the defendant was convicted was committed, and
1-19     the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.