| 1 | 1 | | By: Ellis S.B. No. 2162 |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | relating to the appointment of counsel for the purposes of |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | community supervision revocation or appellate proceedings. |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Subsections (a), (c), (i), and (o), Article |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | 26.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows: |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | (a) The judges of the county courts, statutory county |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | courts, and district courts trying criminal cases in each county, |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | by local rule, shall adopt and publish written countywide |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | procedures for timely and fairly appointing counsel for an indigent |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | defendant in the county arrested for, [or] charged with, or taking |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | an appeal from a conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | confinement or a felony. The procedures must be consistent with |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | this article and Articles 1.051, 15.17, 26.05, and 26.052. A court |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | shall appoint an attorney from a public appointment list using a |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | system of rotation, unless the court appoints an attorney under |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | Subsection (f), (h), or (i). The court shall appoint attorneys from |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | among the next five names on the appointment list in the order in |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | which the attorneys' names appear on the list, unless the court |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | makes a finding of good cause on the record for appointing an |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | attorney out of order. An attorney who is not appointed in the |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | order in which the attorney's name appears on the list shall remain |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | next in order on the list. |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | (c) Whenever a court or the courts' designee authorized |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | under Subsection (b) to appoint counsel for indigent defendants in |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | the county determines for purposes of a criminal proceeding that a |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | defendant charged with or appealing a conviction of a felony or a |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | misdemeanor punishable by confinement is indigent or that the |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | interests of justice require representation of a defendant in the |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | [a criminal] proceeding, the court or the courts' designee shall |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | appoint one or more practicing attorneys to represent [defend] the |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | defendant in accordance with this subsection and the procedures |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | adopted under Subsection (a). If the court or the courts' designee |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | determines that the defendant does not speak and understand the |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | English language or that the defendant is deaf, the court or the |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | courts' designee shall make an effort to appoint an attorney who is |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | capable of communicating in a language understood by the defendant. |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | (i) A court or the courts' designee required under |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | Subsection (c) to appoint an attorney to represent a defendant |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | accused or convicted of a felony may appoint an attorney from any |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | county located in the court's administrative judicial region. |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | (o) Before making a determination of whether a defendant is |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | indigent, the court shall request the defendant to sign under oath a |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | statement substantially in the following form: |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | "On this ________ day of ____________, 20 ___, I have been |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | advised by the (name of the court) Court of my right to |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | representation by counsel in connection with [the trial of] |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | the charge pending against me. I am without means to employ |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | counsel of my own choosing and I hereby request the court to |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | appoint counsel for me. (signature of the defendant)" |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | SECTION 2. Subsection (d), Section 21, Article 42.12, Code |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows: |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | (d) A defendant has a right to counsel at a hearing under |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | this section. The court shall appoint counsel for an indigent |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | defendant in accordance with Article 26.04. |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | to a criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | date of this Act. A criminal proceeding that commences before the |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | that purpose. |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
|---|