By: Castro (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth) H.B. No. 609
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 16, 2009;
April 16, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on
Jurisprudence; April 23, 2009, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 23, 2009, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the composition of the jury in certain adjudication
hearings in juvenile court.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.03(c), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Trial shall be by jury unless jury is waived in
accordance with Section 51.09. If the hearing is on a petition that
has been approved by the grand jury under Section 53.045, the jury
must consist of 12 persons and be selected in accordance with the
requirements in criminal cases. If the hearing is on a petition
that alleges conduct that violates a penal law of this state of the
grade of misdemeanor, the jury must consist of the number of persons
required by Article 33.01(b), Code of Criminal Procedure. Jury
verdicts under this title must be unanimous.
SECTION 2. Section 54.03(c), Family Code, as amended by
this Act, applies to an adjudication hearing conducted in a
juvenile court for which a jury is selected on or after the
effective date of this Act, regardless of the date the petition on
which the hearing is based was filed.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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