By: RodrÃguez S.B. No. 2000
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to jurisdiction and court administration of the El Paso
Criminal Law Magistrate Court.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.732, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 54.732. CREATION. The El Paso Criminal Law Magistrate
Court is a court having the jurisdiction provided by this
subchapter over offenses allegedly committed in El Paso County
[except for that portion of the county in the corporate limits of
Vinton, Texas].
SECTION 2. Section 54.733, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:
(j) The criminal law magistrate court has concurrent
criminal jurisdiction with the justice courts located in El Paso
County.
SECTION 3. Section 54.735, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 54.735. POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The criminal law
magistrate court or a judge of the criminal law magistrate court may
issue writs of injunction and all other writs necessary for the
enforcement of the jurisdiction of the court and may issue
misdemeanor writs of habeas corpus in cases in which the offense
charged is within the jurisdiction of the court or of any other
court of inferior jurisdiction in the county. The court and the
judge may punish for contempt as provided by law for district
courts. A judge of the criminal law magistrate court has all other
powers, duties, immunities, and privileges provided by law for:
(1) justices of the peace when acting in a Class C
misdemeanor case;
(2) county court judges when acting in a Class A or
Class B misdemeanor case; and
(3) [for] district court judges when acting in a
felony case.
(b) A judge of the criminal law magistrate court may hold an
indigency hearing and a capias pro fine hearing. When acting as the
judge who issued the capias pro fine, a judge of the criminal law
magistrate court may make all findings of fact and law required of
the judge who issued the capias pro fine. In conducting a hearing
under this subsection, the judge of the criminal law magistrate
court is empowered to make all findings of fact and to issue all
orders necessary to properly dispose of the capias pro fine or
indigency hearing in accordance with the provisions of the Code of
Criminal Procedure applicable to a misdemeanor or felony case of
the same type and level.
SECTION 4. Section 54.736(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The council of judges shall ensure that the criminal law
magistrate court gives preference to magistrate duties, as those
duties apply to the county jail inmate population first and then to
newly detained individuals, until the commissioners court provides
funds for more than one judge to sit on the criminal law magistrate
court.
SECTION 5. Section 54.737(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) The rules must provide that[:
[(1) a criminal law magistrate judge may not, on a
regular basis, hold court or perform magistrate duties after 7 p.m.
or before 7 a.m.; and
[(2)] a criminal law magistrate judge may only release
a defendant under Article 17.031, Code of Criminal Procedure, under
guidelines established by the council of judges.
SECTION 6. Sections 54.738(a) and (c), Government Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) or local
administrative rules, the local administrative judge or a judge of
the criminal law magistrate court may transfer between courts a
case that is pending in the court of any magistrate in the criminal
law magistrate court's jurisdiction if the case is:
(1) an [any] unindicted felony case;
(2) a[,] Class A [misdemeanor case,] or Class B
misdemeanor case if an information has not been filed; or
(3) a Class C misdemeanor [and if the] case [is pending
in the court of any magistrate in the criminal law magistrate
court's jurisdiction].
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d) or local
administrative rules, the local administrative judge may assign a
judge on the council of judges, a judge of the criminal law
magistrate court, a retired judge, or any other magistrate to act as
presiding judge in a case that is pending in the court of any
magistrate in the criminal law magistrate court's jurisdiction if
the case is:
(1) an [any] unindicted felony case;
(2) a[,] Class A [misdemeanor case,] or Class B
misdemeanor case if an information has not been filed; or
(3) a Class C misdemeanor [and if the] case [is pending
in the court of any magistrate in the criminal law magistrate
court's jurisdiction].
SECTION 7. Section 54.739(d), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(d) A case assigned under this subchapter to the criminal
law magistrate court from a district court, [or] a county court at
law, or a justice court remains on the docket of the assigning court
and in the assigning court's jurisdiction.
SECTION 8. Section 54.741, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 54.741. FORFEITURES. Bail bonds and personal bonds
may be forfeited by the criminal law magistrate court in the manner
provided by Chapter 22, Code of Criminal Procedure, and those
forfeitures shall be filed with:
(1) the district clerk if associated with a felony
case;
(2) [, except in cases in which] the county clerk if
associated with a Class A or Class B misdemeanor case; or
(3) the same justice court clerk associated with the
Class C misdemeanor case in which the bond was originally filed [is
the clerk under this subchapter].
SECTION 9. Section 54.742, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) When a justice clerk is the clerk under this subchapter,
the justice clerk shall charge the same court costs for cases filed
in, transferred to, or assigned to the criminal law magistrate
court that are charged in the justice courts.
SECTION 10. Section 54.744, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 54.744. JUDGES ON EL PASO COUNCIL OF JUDGES. Unless
the local rules of administration provide otherwise, the judges on
the El Paso Council of Judges and the judges on the criminal law
magistrate court may sit and act for any magistrate in El Paso
County on any unindicted felony or Class A or B misdemeanor case if
an information has not been filed or any Class C misdemeanor case
filed in a justice court.
SECTION 11. Section 54.745(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) As a condition for a defendant to enter any pretrial
diversion program, including a behavioral modification program, a
health care program, a specialty court program, or the functional
equivalent that may be operated in El Paso County by El Paso County,
Emergence Health Network, the City of El Paso, the West Texas
Regional Adult Probation Department, a community partner approved
by the council of judges, or a county or district attorney of El
Paso County, a defendant must file in the court in which the charges
are pending a sworn waiver of speedy trial motion requesting the
court to approve without a hearing defendant's waiver of his speedy
trial rights under the constitution and other law. If the court
approves the waiver, the defendant is eligible for consideration
for acceptance into a pretrial diversion program or equivalent
program.
SECTION 12. Sections 54.746(d) and (e), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(d) A judge of a county court at law in El Paso County shall
exercise jurisdiction granted by Subsection (a) over felony
indictments and felony informations and justice court cases
[information] only as a judge presiding for the court in which the
felony or Class C misdemeanor is pending and only if the El Paso
Council of Judges has so provided in the local administrative rules
by a unanimous vote. The exercise of this jurisdiction outside El
Paso County is as provided by Chapter 74 and other law.
(e) A judge of a district court in El Paso County shall
exercise jurisdiction granted by Subsection (a) over misdemeanor
information and justice court cases only as a judge presiding for
the court in which the misdemeanor is pending and only if the
council of judges has so provided in the local administrative rules
by a unanimous vote. The exercise of this jurisdiction outside El
Paso County is as provided by the Court Administration Act (Chapter
74) and other law.
SECTION 13. Section 54.750, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) When conducting a capias pro fine hearing for any court,
the criminal law magistrate court acts in the same capacity and with
the same authority as the judge who issued the capias pro fine.
SECTION 14. Sections 54.753(a) and (b), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The district clerk serves as clerk of the criminal law
magistrate court, except that:
(1) after a Class A or Class B misdemeanor information
is filed in the county court at law and assigned to the criminal law
magistrate court, the county clerk serves as clerk for that
misdemeanor case; and
(2) after a Class C misdemeanor is filed in a justice
court and assigned to the criminal law magistrate court, the
originating justice court clerk serves as clerk for that
misdemeanor case.
(b) The district clerk shall establish a docket and keep the
minutes for the cases filed in or transferred to the criminal law
magistrate court. The district clerk shall perform any other duties
that local administrative rules require in connection with the
implementation of this subchapter. The local administrative judge
shall ensure that the duties required under this subsection are
performed. To facilitate the duties associated with serving as the
clerk of the criminal law magistrate court, the district clerk and
the deputies of the district clerk may serve as deputy justice
clerks and deputy county clerks at the discretion of the district
clerk.
SECTION 15. Section 54.759, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 54.759. LOCATION OF COURT. (a) The criminal law
magistrate court may be held at one or more locations [the location
that is] provided by the local administrative rules or ordered by
the local administrative judge.
(b) A defendant may be brought before the court in person or
by means of an electronic broadcast system through which an image of
the defendant is presented to the court. For purposes of this
subsection, "electronic broadcast system" means a two-way
electronic communication of image and sound between the defendant
and the court.
SECTION 16. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.