By:  Brimer                                                       S.B. No. 1305
	(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2005; March 21, 2005, read 
first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice; 
April 13, 2005, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 6, 
Nays 0; April 13, 2005, sent to printer.)


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT


relating to the time a person may be detained in custody for a 
preliminary examination.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subsection (b), Section 573.021, Health and 
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(b)  A person accepted for a preliminary examination may be 
detained in custody for not longer than 72 [24] hours after the time 
the person is presented to the facility unless a written order for 
further detention is obtained.  The 72-hour [24-hour] period 
allowed by this section includes any time the patient spends 
waiting in the facility for medical care before the person receives 
the preliminary examination.  The period does not include any time 
during which the person is actually receiving necessary medical 
care in the facility's emergency room or emergency care in another 
area of the facility.  If the 72-hour [24-hour] period ends on a 
Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or before 4 p.m. on the first 
succeeding business day, the person may be detained until 4 p.m. on 
the first succeeding business day.  If extremely hazardous weather 
conditions exist or a disaster occurs, the presiding judge or 
magistrate may, by written order made each day, extend by an 
additional 24 hours the period during which the person may be 
detained.  The written order must declare that an emergency exists 
because of the weather or the occurrence of a disaster.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only 
to the detention of a person admitted for a preliminary examination 
under Section 573.021, Health and Safety Code, on or after the 
effective date of this Act.  The detention of a person admitted for 
a preliminary examination before the effective date of this Act is 
covered by the law in effect when the person was admitted, and the 
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.                           



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