1-1 By: Madla S.B. No. 164
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed December 13, 2000; January 11, 2001,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
1-4 February 21, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas
1-5 5, Nays 0; February 21, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to officers authorized by law to hold an inquest.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Subsection (c), Article 49.07, Code of Criminal
1-11 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-12 (c)(1) If the justice of the peace who serves the precinct
1-13 in which the body was found is not available to conduct an inquest,
1-14 a person required to give notice under this article shall notify
1-15 the nearest available justice of the peace serving the county[,
1-16 municipal court judge, county judge, or judge of the county court
1-17 at law of the county in which the death occurred or] in which the
1-18 body was found, and that justice of the peace shall conduct the
1-19 inquest.
1-20 (2) If no justice of the peace serving the county in
1-21 which the body was found is available to conduct an inquest, a
1-22 person required to give notice under this article shall notify the
1-23 county judge, and the county judge shall initiate the inquest. The
1-24 county judge may exercise any power and perform any duty otherwise
1-25 granted to or imposed under this subchapter on the justice of the
1-26 peace serving the county in which the body was found, except that
1-27 not later than the fifth day after the day on which the inquest is
1-28 initiated, the county judge shall transfer all information obtained
1-29 by the judge to the justice of the peace in whose precinct the body
1-30 was found for final disposition of the matter.
1-31 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
1-32 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
1-33 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
1-34 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
1-35 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-36 * * * * *