By: Alonzo (Senate Sponsor - Uresti) H.B. No. 452
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2015;
May 13, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 24, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 1;
May 24, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 452 By: Whitmire
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to pretrial hearings in criminal cases in certain courts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 28.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Section 4 to read as follows:
Sec. 4. (a) A court shall set a pretrial hearing in a
criminal case if, not later than the 60th day before the date on
which trial commences, the defendant requests the hearing. The
court must:
(1) hold the requested hearing not later than the 30th
day before the date on which trial commences; and
(2) to the extent feasible, rule at the hearing on all
pretrial motions filed in the case.
(b) The failure of the court to comply with the requirements
of Subsection (a) is not grounds for dismissal of a case against a
defendant.
(c) The court may not sustain a motion to set aside an
indictment, information, or complaint for failure to provide a
speedy trial, as described by Article 28.061, based solely on the
failure of the court to comply with the requirements of Subsection
(a).
(d) This section does not apply to a case in which the
offense:
(1) is punishable by fine only;
(2) is punishable by a fine and a sanction not
consisting of confinement or imprisonment; or
(3) is an offense under Chapter 106, Alcoholic
Beverage Code, the punishment for which does not include
confinement as an authorized sanction.
SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a criminal case in which
the indictment or information is presented to the court on or after
the effective date of this Act. A criminal case in which the
indictment or information is presented to the court before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the indictment or information is presented, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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