81R1343 GCB-D
By: Ellis S.B. No. 165
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an annual report and analysis by the Office of Court
Administration regarding cases involving the trial of a capital
offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 72.087, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to
read as follows:
(b) The report must include:
(1) the charges filed against the defendant;
(2) the facts established in the case, including any
mitigating or aggravating circumstance considered;
(3) the race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status of
each defendant and victim;
(4) the contents of the trial court's charge to the
jury;
(5) the offense or offenses for which the defendant
was convicted; [and]
(6) [(2)] the sentence issued in each case; and
(7) a summary of the most recent analysis submitted
under Subsection (f).
(d) The office shall contract with a person to complete an
ongoing analysis of the information contained in the reports as
required by Subsection (b). A person with whom the office contracts
under this subsection must:
(1) have a doctoral degree and demonstrated expertise
in:
(A) criminology;
(B) criminal justice;
(C) law; or
(D) sociology; and
(2) be employed by a general academic teaching
institution as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.
(e) Each analysis under Subsection (d) must indicate:
(1) whether any trend or correlation exists between
charging or sentencing decisions and the race or ethnicity of the
defendant or victim;
(2) whether racial or ethnic discrimination appears to
influence charging or sentencing decisions in any geographic area
of the state;
(3) whether any other factor covered by the data
appears to interfere with the just, fair, and accurate
administration of capital punishment in this state; and
(4) what kind of legislative action is needed to
alleviate any issue identified under Subdivision (1), (2), or (3).
(f) Not later than September 1 of each year, the office
shall submit the results of the analysis for the preceding 12-month
period to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the
house of representatives, the presiding officer of each standing
committee of the senate and house of representatives having primary
jurisdiction over matters relating to criminal justice, and the
Court of Criminal Appeals.
SECTION 2. (a) The Office of Court Administration shall
submit the first analysis for which submission is required under
Section 72.087(f), Government Code, as added by this Act, not later
than September 1, 2010.
(b) The Office of Court Administration shall include in its
annual report required under Section 72.087(a), Government Code,
the information required by Subsection (b) of that section, as
amended by this Act, beginning with the first annual report
published after September 1, 2010.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.