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78R13490 E


By:  Hilderbran                                                   H.B. No. 3241

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3241:                                   

By:  Keel                                                     C.S.H.B. No. 3241



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the prosecution and adjudication of an offense in 
justice or municipal courts.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Article 2.07(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(d)  In this article, "attorney for the state" means a county 
attorney, a district attorney, a city attorney, or a criminal 
district attorney.
	SECTION 2.  Article 15.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended to read as follows:
	Art. 15.18.  ARREST FOR OUT-OF-COUNTY OFFENSE.  (a)  A person 
arrested under a warrant issued in a county other than the one in 
which the person is arrested shall be taken before a magistrate of 
the county where the arrest takes place who shall:
		(1)  take bail, if allowed by law, and immediately 
transmit the bond taken to the court having jurisdiction of the 
offense; or
		(2)  in the case of a person arrested [under warrant] 
for an offense punishable by fine only, with the approval of the 
magistrate or court issuing the warrant, accept a written plea of 
guilty or nolo contendere, set a fine, determine costs, accept 
payment of the fine and costs, give credit for time served, 
determine indigency, enter a final judgment in the case, and [or,] 
on satisfaction of the judgment[,] discharge the defendant, as the 
case may indicate.
	(b)  Before the 11th business day after the date a magistrate 
accepts a written plea of guilty or nolo contendere in a case under 
Subsection (a)(2), the magistrate shall transmit to the court 
having jurisdiction of the offense:
		(1)  the written plea;                                                        
		(2)  any judgment or orders entered in the case; and                   
		(3)  any fine or costs collected in the case.                                 
	(c)  This article does not apply to capias pro fine warrants 
issued under Article 45.045.
	SECTION 3.  Article 45.046(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, 
is amended to read as follows:
	(a)  When a judgment and sentence have been entered against a 
defendant and the defendant defaults in the discharge of the 
judgment, the judge may order the defendant confined in jail until 
discharged by law if the judge determines that:
		(1)  the defendant is not indigent and has
[intentionally] failed to make a good faith effort to discharge the 
fine and costs [judgment]; or
		(2)  the defendant is [not] indigent and has failed to 
make a good faith effort to discharge the fine and costs under 
Article 45.049 or pursuant to the judgment.
	SECTION 4.  Subchapter B, Chapter 45, Code of Criminal 
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 45.0491 to read as follows:
	Art. 45.0491.  WAIVER OF PAYMENT OF FINES AND COSTS FOR 
INDIGENT DEFENDANTS IN JUSTICE OR MUNICIPAL COURT.  A municipal 
court, regardless of whether the court is a court of record, or a 
justice court may waive payment of a fine or cost imposed on a 
defendant who defaults in payment if the court determines that:
		(1)  the defendant is indigent; and                                    
		(2)  each alternative method of discharging the fine or 
cost under Article 45.049 would impose an undue hardship on the 
defendant.  The decision of the court on this matter is final.
	SECTION 5.  Article 43.091, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
repealed.         
	SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.