By: Carona S.B. No. 413
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of a Class C misdemeanor offense for
which the defendant does not appear.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (d), Article 27.14, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(d) If written notice of an offense for which maximum
possible punishment is by fine only or of a violation relating to
the manner, time, and place of parking has been prepared,
delivered, and filed with the court and a legible duplicate copy has
been given to the defendant, the written notice serves as a
complaint to which the defendant may plead "guilty," "not guilty,"
or "nolo contendere." If the defendant pleads "not guilty" to the
offense or fails to appear based on the written notice, a complaint
shall be filed that conforms to the requirements of Chapter 45 of
this code, and that complaint serves as an original complaint. A
defendant may waive the filing of a sworn complaint and elect that
the prosecution proceed on the written notice of the charged
offense if the defendant agrees in writing with the prosecution,
signs the agreement, and files it with the court.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to the prosecution of an offense committed on or after the effective
date of this Act. The prosecution of an offense committed before
the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect at the
time the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense
was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element
of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.