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Amend CSHB 282 (house committee report) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. Article 19.31, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.31. CHALLENGE TO JUROR. (a) A challenge to a particular grand juror may be made orally for any of the following causes [only]:
1. That the juror is insane;
2. That the juror has such defect in the organs of feeling or hearing, or such bodily or mental defect or disease as to render the juror unfit for jury service, or that the juror is legally blind and the court in its discretion is not satisfied that the juror is fit for jury service in that particular case;
3. That the juror is a witness in an investigation of the grand jury;
4. That the juror served on a petit jury in a former trial of the same alleged conduct or offense that the grand jury is investigating;
5. That the juror has a bias or prejudice in favor of or against the person accused or suspected of committing an offense that the grand jury is investigating;
6. That from hearsay, or otherwise, there is established in the mind of the juror such a conclusion as to the guilt or innocence of the person accused or suspected of committing an offense that the grand jury is investigating as would influence the juror's vote on the presentment of an indictment;
7. That the juror is related within the third degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to a person accused or suspected of committing an offense that the grand jury is investigating or to a person who is a victim of an offense that the grand jury is investigating;
8. That the juror has a bias or prejudice against any phase of the law upon which the state is entitled to rely for an indictment;
9. That the juror [he] is not a qualified juror; and
10. [2.] That the juror [he] is the prosecutor upon an accusation against the person making the challenge.
(b) In this article, "legally blind" has the meaning assigned by Article 35.16(a).
SECTION ____. Chapter 19, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Article 19.315 to read as follows:
Art. 19.315. RECUSAL OF JUROR. (a) If, during the course of a juror's service on the grand jury, the juror determines that the juror could be subject to a valid challenge for cause under Article 19.31, the juror shall recuse himself or herself from grand jury service until the cause no longer exists. A person who knowingly fails to recuse himself or herself under this subsection may be held in contempt of court. A person authorized to be present in the grand jury room shall report a known violation of this subsection to the court.
(b) The court shall instruct the grand jury as to the duty imposed by Subsection (a).
SECTION ____. The changes in law made by this Act apply to a grand jury impaneled on or after the effective date of this Act. A grand jury impaneled before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the grand jury was impaneled, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.