| 1 | 1 | | By: Patrick S.B. No. 1200 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (Fletcher, Riddle, Coleman) |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the venue for prosecution of misdemeanor cases in |
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| 8 | 8 | | justice of the peace courts located in certain counties. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Article 4.12, Code of Criminal |
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| 11 | 11 | | Procedure, is amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a) Except as otherwise provided by this article, a |
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| 13 | 13 | | misdemeanor case to be tried in justice court shall be tried: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) in the precinct in which the offense was |
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| 15 | 15 | | committed; |
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| 16 | 16 | | (2) in the precinct in which the defendant or any of |
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| 17 | 17 | | the defendants reside; [or] |
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| 18 | 18 | | (3) with the written consent of the state and each |
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| 19 | 19 | | defendant or the defendant's attorney, in any other precinct within |
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| 20 | 20 | | the county; or |
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| 21 | 21 | | (4) if the offense was committed in a county with a |
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| 22 | 22 | | population of 3.3 million or more, in any precinct in the county |
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| 23 | 23 | | that is adjacent to the precinct in which the offense was committed. |
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| 24 | 24 | | SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Article 4.12, Code of Criminal |
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| 25 | 25 | | Procedure, as amended by this Act, applies only to an offense |
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| 26 | 26 | | committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense |
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| 27 | 27 | | committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the |
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| 28 | 28 | | law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is |
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| 29 | 29 | | continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, |
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| 30 | 30 | | an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if |
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| 31 | 31 | | any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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| 32 | 32 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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