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79R5321 RMB-D
By: Gonzales H.B. No. 2977
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of an alternative system for direct filing
of charges against persons who have been arrested.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 2.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 2.09. WHO ARE MAGISTRATES. Each of the following
officers is a magistrate within the meaning of this Code: The
justices of the Supreme Court, the judges of the Court of Criminal
Appeals, the justices of the Courts of Appeals, the judges of the
District Court, the magistrates appointed by the judges of the
district courts of Bexar County, Dallas County, or Tarrant County
that give preference to criminal cases, the criminal law hearing
officers for Harris County appointed under Subchapter L, Chapter
54, Government Code, the magistrates appointed by the judges of the
district courts of Lubbock County or Webb County, the magistrates
appointed by the judges of the criminal district courts of Dallas
County or Tarrant County, the masters appointed by the judges of the
district courts and the county courts at law that give preference to
criminal cases in Jefferson County, the magistrates appointed by
the judges of the district courts and the statutory county courts of
Williamson County, the magistrates appointed by the judges of the
district courts and statutory county courts that give preference to
criminal cases in Travis County, the county judges, the judges of
the county courts at law, judges of the county criminal courts, the
judges of statutory probate courts, the associate judges appointed
by the judges of the statutory probate courts under Subchapter G,
Chapter 54, Government Code, the criminal law hearing officers
appointed under Subchapter L, Chapter 54, Government Code, the
justices of the peace, the mayors and recorders and the judges of
the municipal courts of incorporated cities or towns.
SECTION 2. Article 14.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 14.06. MUST TAKE OFFENDER BEFORE MAGISTRATE OR OTHER
OFFICER. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), in each case
enumerated in this Code, the person making the arrest or the person
having custody of the person arrested shall take the person
arrested or have him taken without unnecessary delay, but not later
than 48 hours after the person is arrested, before the magistrate
who may have ordered the arrest, before some magistrate of the
county where the arrest was made without an order, or, if necessary
to provide more expeditiously to the person arrested the warnings
described by Article 15.17 of this Code, before a magistrate in a
county bordering the county in which the arrest was made. The
magistrate shall immediately perform the duties described in
Article 15.17 of this Code. If a county has a direct filing system
established under Article 15.161, the person may be taken before
any officer described by that article for the performance of duties
described by that article.
(b) A peace officer who is charging a person, including a
child, with committing an offense that is a Class C misdemeanor,
other than an offense under Section 49.02, Penal Code, may, instead
of taking the person before a magistrate or officer described by
Article 15.161, issue a citation to the person that contains
written notice of the time and place the person must appear before a
magistrate or officer, as appropriate, the name and address of the
person charged, and the offense charged.
SECTION 3. Chapter 15, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 15.161 to read as follows:
Art. 15.161. DIRECT FILING SYSTEM. (a) The Office of Court
Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall by rule establish
an alternative system to process a person who is arrested and
brought to the jail, regardless of whether a warrant was issued in
the case.
(b) The rules must:
(1) preserve all constitutional and statutory rights
of the person arrested; and
(2) provide:
(A) that a representative of the office of the
county clerk or district clerk, the office of the attorney
representing the state, and a person who is a magistrate under
Article 2.09 may meet with the accused person at the jail
immediately after the person is brought to the jail by the arresting
peace officer;
(B) that at the meeting:
(i) the person who is a magistrate shall
inform the person arrested, in clear language, of the accusation
against the person and of the person's rights as required by Article
15.17(a), except that the person who is a magistrate shall ask the
person if the person wishes to proceed with the examining trial at
the present time; and
(ii) the attorney representing the state
shall determine whether probable cause exists to believe that the
person committed the offense;
(C) that if probable cause that the person
committed the offense is found to exist, the person shall be charged
with the offense, or if probable cause is not found, the person
shall be released; and
(D) a procedure for timely arraignment and the
setting of bond for the person charged with an offense.
SECTION 4. Not later than January 1, 2006, the Office of
Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall adopt rules
as required by Article 15.161, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added
by this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.