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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the confidentiality of certain grand juror information, |
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including making former district court jurors instead of former |
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grand jurors eligible for service on certain public committees. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Article 19.42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to |
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read as follows: |
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(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), information |
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collected by the court, court personnel, or prosecuting attorney |
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during the grand jury selection process about a person who serves as |
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a grand juror, including the person's name, home address, home |
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telephone number, social security number, driver's license number, |
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and other personal information, is confidential and may not be |
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disclosed by the court, court personnel, or prosecuting attorney. |
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(c) On request, the court shall permit disclosure of a list |
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of the names, races, ethnicities, and genders of the grand jurors to |
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an attorney representing a party to the proceeding for the purpose |
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of a constitutional challenge to the array after indictment. On |
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disclosing the list of the names, races, ethnicities, or genders of |
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the grand jurors, the court shall order the attorney representing a |
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party to the proceeding and any investigator, expert, consulting |
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legal counsel, secretary, or paralegal for the attorney not to |
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disclose the names, races, ethnicities, or genders of the grand |
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jurors to a party to the proceeding or to any other person. |
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SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 152.015, Local |
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Government Code, is amended to read as follows: |
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(b) Before the meeting, the county clerk shall place on a |
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separate slip the name of each person who served on a district court |
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[grand] jury in the county during the preceding calendar year. At |
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the meeting the slips shall be folded, placed in an appropriate |
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container, and mixed. The county judge shall draw at random a |
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number of slips equal to the number of public members needed for the |
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committee and shall announce the names on the slips. At the meeting |
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the county judge may repeat this process and make a list of |
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alternates. A person whose name is drawn becomes a member of the |
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committee or an alternate on submitting written acceptance to the |
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clerk. If a person refuses or is unable to serve on the committee, a |
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replacement shall be appointed from the list of alternates. If the |
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list of alternates is exhausted or does not exist, a replacement |
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shall be selected at the next regular or called commissioners court |
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meeting by random selection of a slip from the remaining slips. |
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This process shall be repeated until the required number of public |
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members is selected. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |