| 1 | 1 | | By: Flynn (Senate Sponsor - Deuell) H.B. No. 1897 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2011; |
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| 3 | 3 | | May 13, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on |
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| 4 | 4 | | Jurisprudence; May 21, 2011, reported favorably by the following |
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| 5 | 5 | | vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 21, 2011, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | |
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| 8 | 8 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 9 | 9 | | AN ACT |
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| 10 | 10 | | relating to the jurisdiction of, number of jurors in, and the clerk |
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| 11 | 11 | | serving the County Court at Law of Van Zandt County. |
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| 12 | 12 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 13 | 13 | | SECTION 1. Section 25.2362, Government Code, is amended by |
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| 14 | 14 | | amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding Subsection (i) to read |
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| 15 | 15 | | as follows: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (a) In addition to the jurisdiction provided by Section |
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| 17 | 17 | | 25.0003 and other law, and except as limited by Subsection (b), a |
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| 18 | 18 | | county court at law in Van Zandt County has concurrent jurisdiction |
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| 19 | 19 | | with the district court in: |
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| 20 | 20 | | (1) felony cases to: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (A) conduct arraignments; |
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| 22 | 22 | | (B) conduct pretrial hearings; |
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| 23 | 23 | | (C) accept guilty pleas; and |
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| 24 | 24 | | (D) conduct jury trials on assignment of a |
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| 25 | 25 | | district judge presiding in Van Zandt County and acceptance of the |
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| 26 | 26 | | assignment by the judge of the county court at law; |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2) Class A and Class B misdemeanor cases; |
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| 28 | 28 | | (3) family law matters; |
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| 29 | 29 | | (4) juvenile matters; |
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| 30 | 30 | | (5) probate matters; |
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| 31 | 31 | | (6) guardianship matters; and |
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| 32 | 32 | | (7) [(6)] appeals from the justice and municipal |
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| 33 | 33 | | courts. |
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| 34 | 34 | | (f) The district clerk serves as clerk of a county court at |
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| 35 | 35 | | law in family court matters and proceedings [of concurrent |
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| 36 | 36 | | jurisdiction with the district court], and the county clerk shall |
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| 37 | 37 | | serve as clerk of a county court at law in all other matters. Each |
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| 38 | 38 | | clerk shall establish a separate docket for a county court at law. |
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| 39 | 39 | | (i) If a jury trial is requested in a case that is in a |
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| 40 | 40 | | county court at law's jurisdiction, the jury shall be composed of |
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| 41 | 41 | | six members unless the constitution requires a 12-member jury. |
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| 42 | 42 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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| 43 | 43 | | * * * * * |
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