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Amend CSHB 2020 (house committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS and cross-references to those SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____.  Chapter 17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Article 17.50 to read as follows:
Art. 17.50.  PROCEEDING OPEN TO PUBLIC. (a) Any hearing or other proceeding at which a magistrate sets the amount of bail for a defendant, including a proceeding under this chapter or Article 15.17, must be open to the public.
(b)  A magistrate may satisfy the requirements of this article by ordering that the proceeding be broadcast by closed circuit equipment to a location that is reasonably close to the proceeding.
(c)  A broadcast made under Subsection (b) must be recorded by the magistrate and the recording maintained for a period of not less than one year.
SECTION ____.  Article 17.50, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, applies only to a hearing or proceeding that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act.