1-1     By:  Armbrister                                        S.B. No. 219
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 11, 2001; January 16, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
 1-4     February 15, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas
 1-5     4, Nays 0; February 15, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to disposition of out-of-county crimes.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1.  Article 4.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-11     amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
1-12           (d)  A defendant who is taken before a magistrate in
1-13     accordance with Article 15.18 may waive trial by jury and enter a
1-14     written plea of guilty or nolo contendere.
1-15           SECTION 2.  Article 15.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-16     amended to read as follows:
1-17           Art. 15.18.  ARREST FOR OUT-OF-COUNTY OFFENSE.  (a)  A person
1-18     [One] arrested under a warrant issued in a county other than the
1-19     one in which the person is arrested shall be taken before a
1-20     magistrate of the county where the arrest takes place who shall:
1-21                 (1)  take bail, if allowed by law, and immediately
1-22     transmit the bond taken to the court having jurisdiction of the
1-23     offense; or
1-24                 (2)  in the case of a person arrested under warrant for
1-25     an offense punishable by fine only, accept a written plea of guilty
1-26     or nolo contendere, set a fine, determine costs, accept payment of
1-27     the fine and costs, give credit for time served, determine
1-28     indigency, or, on satisfaction of the judgment, discharge the
1-29     defendant, as the case may indicate.
1-30           (b)  Before the 11th business day after the date a magistrate
1-31     accepts a written plea of guilty or nolo contendere in a case under
1-32     Subsection (a)(2), the magistrate shall transmit to the court
1-33     having jurisdiction of the offense:
1-34                 (1)  the written plea;
1-35                 (2)  any orders entered in the case; and
1-36                 (3)  any fine or costs collected in the case.
1-37           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-38                                  * * * * *