By: Brown S.B. No. 1262
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.