78R2838 EMT-D

By:  Noriega                                                      H.B. No. 414



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the appointment of a special prosecutor in certain 
criminal proceedings in which the defendant is a peace officer.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Article 2.08, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended to read as follows:
	Art. 2.08.  DISQUALIFIED.  (a)  District and county 
attorneys shall not be of counsel adversely to the State in any 
case, in any court, nor shall they, after they cease to be such 
officers, be of counsel adversely to the State in any case in which 
they have been of counsel for the State.
	(b)  The attorney for the state or an attorney employed by 
the office of the attorney for the state may not represent the state 
in the prosecution of a felony or Class A misdemeanor charge filed 
against a peace officer serving an area also served by the attorney 
and the office of the attorney.  After a disqualification required 
by this subsection, a court who appoints an attorney pro tem under 
Article 2.07 may not appoint a person who has prosecuted cases 
before the court in the five years preceding the appointment.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                      
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to the 
prosecution of an offense committed on or after the effective date 
of this Act.  The prosecution of an offense committed before the 
effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the 
offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for 
that purpose.  For purposes of this subsection, an offense was 
committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of 
the offense was committed before that date.