| 1 | 1 | | By: Carter, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Carona) H.B. No. 976 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2011; |
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| 3 | 3 | | May 2, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal |
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| 4 | 4 | | Justice; May 12, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote: |
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| 5 | 5 | | Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 12, 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 issuance of a warrant or summons by a magistrate. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Article 15.03, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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| 13 | 13 | | amended by adding Subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) to read as |
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| 14 | 14 | | follows: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (c) For purposes of Subdivision 2, Subsection (a), a person |
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| 16 | 16 | | may appear before the magistrate in person or the person's image may |
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| 17 | 17 | | be presented to the magistrate through an electronic broadcast |
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| 18 | 18 | | system. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (d) A recording of the communication between the person and |
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| 20 | 20 | | the magistrate must be made if the person's image is presented |
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| 21 | 21 | | through an electronic broadcast system under Subsection (c). If |
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| 22 | 22 | | the defendant is charged with the offense, the recording must be |
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| 23 | 23 | | preserved until: |
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| 24 | 24 | | (1) the defendant is acquitted of the offense; or |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2) all appeals relating to the offense have been |
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| 26 | 26 | | exhausted. |
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| 27 | 27 | | (e) The counsel for the defendant may obtain a copy of the |
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| 28 | 28 | | recording on payment of an amount reasonably necessary to cover the |
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| 29 | 29 | | costs of reproducing the recording. |
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| 30 | 30 | | (f) In this article, "electronic broadcast system" means a |
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| 31 | 31 | | two-way electronic communication of image and sound between a |
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| 32 | 32 | | person and magistrate and includes secure Internet |
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| 33 | 33 | | videoconferencing. |
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| 34 | 34 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 35 | 35 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 36 | 36 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 37 | 37 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 38 | 38 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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| 39 | 39 | | * * * * * |
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