By:  Armbrister                                        S.B. No. 219
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to disposition of out-of-county crimes.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Article 4.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
 1-5     amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
 1-6           (d)  A defendant who is taken before a magistrate in
 1-7     accordance with Article 15.18 may waive trial by jury and enter a
 1-8     written plea of guilty or nolo contendere.
 1-9           SECTION 2.  Article 15.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-10     amended to read as follows:
1-11           Art. 15.18.  ARREST FOR OUT-OF-COUNTY OFFENSE.  (a)  A person
1-12     [One] arrested under a warrant issued in a county other than the
1-13     one in which the person is arrested shall be taken before a
1-14     magistrate of the county where the arrest takes place who shall:
1-15                 (1)  take bail, if allowed by law, and immediately
1-16     transmit the bond taken to the court having jurisdiction of the
1-17     offense; or
1-18                 (2)  in the case of a person arrested under warrant for
1-19     an offense punishable by fine only, accept a written plea of guilty
1-20     or nolo contendere, set a fine, determine costs, accept payment of
1-21     the fine and costs, give credit for time served, determine
1-22     indigency, or, on satisfaction of the judgment, discharge the
1-23     defendant, as the case may indicate.
1-24           (b)  Before the 11th business day after the date a magistrate
1-25     accepts a written plea of guilty or nolo contendere in a case under
 2-1     Subsection (a)(2), the magistrate shall transmit to the court
 2-2     having jurisdiction of the offense:
 2-3                 (1)  the written plea;
 2-4                 (2)  any orders entered in the case; and
 2-5                 (3)  any fine or costs collected in the case.
 2-6           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.