By:  Jackson                                          S.B. No. 1681
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the waiver of a jury trial in the prosecution of a
 1-3     misdemeanor offense within the jurisdiction of the justice and
 1-4     municipal courts.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Subsection (c), Section 27.14, Code of Criminal
 1-7     Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
 1-8           (c)  In a misdemeanor case for which the maximum possible
 1-9     punishment is by fine only, payment of a fine[,] or an amount
1-10     accepted by the court constitutes a finding of guilty in open
1-11     court[,] as though a plea of nolo contendere had been entered by
1-12     the defendant and constitutes a waiver of a jury trial in writing.
1-13           SECTION 2.  Subsection (c), Section 27.14, Code of Criminal
1-14     Procedure, as amended by this Act, applies only to a fine paid or
1-15     an amount accepted by the court in a misdemeanor case on or after
1-16     the effective date of this Act.  A fine paid or an amount accepted
1-17     by the court in a misdemeanor case before the effective date of
1-18     this Act is covered by the law in effect immediately before the
1-19     effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
1-20     that purpose.
1-21           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.