78R8077 AJA-D

By:  Ellis                                                        S.B. No. 1740



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the composition of a jury in certain cases.                       
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 62, Government Code, is 
amended by adding Section 62.022 to read as follows:
	Sec. 62.022.  JURY COMPOSITION.  A jury selected to be a 
trier of fact in a civil or criminal case tried in a county or 
district court must be racially and ethnically proportionate to the 
community population from which the jury is selected.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only 
to an action filed on or after the effective date of this Act.  An 
action filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by 
the law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is 
continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.