|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the venue for prosecution of misdemeanor cases in |
|
justice of the peace courts located in certain counties. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Article 4.12, Code of Criminal |
|
Procedure, is amended to read as follows: |
|
(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) if the offense was committed in a county with a |
|
population of 3.3 million or more, in any precinct in the county |
|
that is adjacent to the precinct in which the offense was committed. |
|
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Article 4.12, Code of Criminal |
|
Procedure, as amended by this Act, applies only to an offense |
|
committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense |
|
committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the |
|
law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is |
|
continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, |
|
an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if |
|
any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |