By: Coleman (Senate Sponsor - Seliger) H.B. No. 2525
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 18, 2015;
May 19, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
Administration; May 24, 2015, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 24, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appointment of counsel to represent indigent
defendants in criminal cases.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 1.051, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsections (c), (i), and (k) and adding
Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c) An indigent defendant is entitled to have an attorney
appointed to represent him in any adversary judicial proceeding
that may result in punishment by confinement and in any other
criminal proceeding if the court concludes that the interests of
justice require representation. Subject to Subsection (c-1)
[Except as otherwise provided by this subsection], if an indigent
defendant is entitled to and requests appointed counsel and if
adversarial judicial proceedings have been initiated against the
defendant, a court or the courts' designee authorized under Article
26.04 to appoint counsel for indigent defendants in the county in
which the defendant is arrested shall appoint counsel as soon as
possible, but not later than:
(1) the end of the third working day after the date on
which the court or the courts' designee receives the defendant's
request for appointment of counsel, if the defendant is arrested in
a county with a population of less than 250,000; or
(2) [. In a county with a population of 250,000 or
more, the court or the courts' designee shall appoint counsel as
required by this subsection as soon as possible, but not later than]
the end of the first working day after the date on which the court or
the courts' designee receives the defendant's request for
appointment of counsel, if the defendant is arrested in a county
with a population of 250,000 or more.
(c-1) If an indigent defendant is arrested under a warrant
issued in a county other than the county in which the arrest was
made and the defendant is entitled to and requests appointed
counsel, a court or the courts' designee authorized under Article
26.04 to appoint counsel for indigent defendants in the county that
issued the warrant shall appoint counsel within the periods
prescribed by Subsection (c), regardless of whether the defendant
is present within the county issuing the warrant and even if
adversarial judicial proceedings have not yet been initiated
against the defendant in the county issuing the warrant. However,
if the defendant has not been transferred or released into the
custody of the county issuing the warrant before the 11th day after
the date of the arrest and if counsel has not otherwise been
appointed for the defendant in the arresting county under this
article, a court or the courts' designee authorized under Article
26.04 to appoint counsel for indigent defendants in the arresting
county immediately shall appoint counsel to represent the defendant
in any matter under Chapter 11 or 17, regardless of whether
adversarial judicial proceedings have been initiated against the
defendant in the arresting county. If counsel is appointed for the
defendant in the arresting county as required by this subsection,
the arresting county may seek from the county that issued the
warrant reimbursement for the actual costs paid by the arresting
county for the appointed counsel.
(i) Subject to Subsection (c-1) [Except as otherwise
provided by this subsection], with respect to a county with a
population of less than 250,000, if an indigent defendant is
entitled to and requests appointed counsel and if adversarial
judicial proceedings have not been initiated against the defendant,
a court or the courts' designee authorized under Article 26.04 to
appoint counsel for indigent defendants in the county in which the
defendant is arrested shall appoint counsel immediately following
the expiration of three working days after the date on which the
court or the courts' designee receives the defendant's request for
appointment of counsel. If adversarial judicial proceedings are
initiated against the defendant before the expiration of the three
working days, the court or the courts' designee shall appoint
counsel as provided by Subsection (c). Subject to Subsection
(c-1), in [In] a county with a population of 250,000 or more, the
court or the courts' designee shall appoint counsel as required by
this subsection immediately following the expiration of one working
day after the date on which the court or the courts' designee
receives the defendant's request for appointment of counsel. If
adversarial judicial proceedings are initiated against the
defendant before the expiration of the one working day, the court or
the courts' designee shall appoint counsel as provided by
Subsection (c).
(k) A court or the courts' designee may without unnecessary
delay appoint new counsel to represent an indigent defendant for
whom counsel is appointed under Subsection (c), (c-1), or (i) if:
(1) the defendant is subsequently charged in the case
with an offense different from the offense with which the defendant
was initially charged; and
(2) good cause to appoint new counsel is stated on the
record as required by Article 26.04(j)(2).
SECTION 2. Article 15.17(e), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) In each case in which a person arrested is taken before a
magistrate as required by Subsection (a) or Article 15.18(a), a
record shall be made of:
(1) the magistrate informing the person of the
person's right to request appointment of counsel;
(2) the magistrate asking the person whether the
person wants to request appointment of counsel; and
(3) whether the person requested appointment of
counsel.
SECTION 3. Article 15.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) If the arrested person is taken before a magistrate of
a county other than the county that issued the warrant, the
magistrate shall inform the person arrested of the procedures for
requesting appointment of counsel and ensure that reasonable
assistance in completing the necessary forms for requesting
appointment of counsel is provided to the person at the same time.
If the person requests the appointment of counsel, the magistrate
shall, without unnecessary delay but not later than 24 hours after
the person requested the appointment of counsel, transmit, or cause
to be transmitted, the necessary request forms to a court or the
courts' designee authorized under Article 26.04 to appoint counsel
in the county issuing the warrant.
SECTION 4. Article 26.04(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The judges of the county courts, statutory county
courts, and district courts trying criminal cases in each county,
by local rule, shall adopt and publish written countywide
procedures for timely and fairly appointing counsel for an indigent
defendant in the county arrested for, charged with, or taking an
appeal from a conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by confinement
or a felony. The procedures must be consistent with this article
and Articles 1.051, 15.17, 15.18, 26.05, and 26.052. A court shall
appoint an attorney from a public appointment list using a system of
rotation, unless the court appoints an attorney under Subsection
(f), (f-1), (h), or (i). The court shall appoint attorneys from
among the next five names on the appointment list in the order in
which the attorneys' names appear on the list, unless the court
makes a finding of good cause on the record for appointing an
attorney out of order. An attorney who is not appointed in the
order in which the attorney's name appears on the list shall remain
next in order on the list.
SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a person who is arrested on or after the effective date of this
Act. A person arrested before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the person was arrested,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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