84R2855 AJZ-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 560
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the qualifications for service as a grand juror.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 19.08, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.08. QUALIFICATIONS. No person shall be selected or
serve as a grand juror who does not possess the following
qualifications:
1. The person must be a citizen of the state, and of
the county in which the person is to serve, and be qualified under
the Constitution and laws to vote in said county, provided that the
person's failure to register to vote shall not be held to disqualify
the person in this instance;
2. The person must be of sound mind and good moral
character;
3. The person must be able to read and write;
4. The person must not have been convicted of
misdemeanor theft or a felony;
5. The person must not be under indictment or other
legal accusation for misdemeanor theft or a felony;
6. The person must not be related within the third
degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity, as determined
under Chapter 573, Government Code, to any person selected to serve
or serving on the same grand jury;
7. The person must not have served as a [grand juror
or] jury commissioner in the year preceding [before] the date on
which the term of court for which the person has been selected as a
grand juror begins;
8. The person must not be a complainant in any matter
to be heard by the grand jury during the term of court for which the
person has been selected as a grand juror; and
9. The person must not have served as a grand juror
during the two-year period preceding the date on which the term of
court for which the person has been selected as a grand juror
begins.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to qualifications for grand jury service for a person required to
appear for grand jury service by a summons made on or after
September 1, 2015. The qualifications of a person required to
appear for grand jury service before September 1, 2015, are
governed by the law in effect on the date the summons is made, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.