By: Fletcher H.B. No. 2647
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to trials for misdemeanor cases.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 4.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Art. 4.12.  MISDEMEANOR CASES; PRECINCT IN WHICH DEFENDANT
  TO BE TRIED IN JUSTICE COURT. (a) Except as otherwise provided by
  this article, a misdemeanor case to be tried in justice court shall
  be tried:
               (1)  in the precinct in which the offense was
  committed;
               (2)  in the precinct in which the defendant or any of
  the defendants reside; [or]
               (3)  with the written consent of the state and each
  defendant or the defendant's attorney, in any other precinct within
  the county; or
               (4)  in a county with a population of 3.3 million or
  more, in the precinct in which the offense was committed or an
  adjacent precinct.
         (b)  In any misdemeanor case in which the offense was
  committed in a precinct where there is no qualified justice court,
  then trial shall be held:
               (1)  in the next adjacent precinct in the same county
  which has a duly qualified justice court; or
               (2)  in the precinct in which the defendant may reside.
         (c)  In any misdemeanor case in which each justice of the
  peace in the precinct where the offense was committed is
  disqualified for any reason, such case may be tried in the next
  adjoining precinct in the same county having a duly qualified
  justice of the peace.
         (d)  A defendant who is taken before a magistrate in
  accordance with Article 15.18 may waive trial by jury and enter a
  written plea of guilty or nolo contendere.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.