By: Buckingham S.B. No. 1424
(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2017; March 16, 2017, read
first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
May 17, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 17, 2017,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1424 By: Whitmire
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to criminal procedure, including grand jury proceedings
and the appointment of an attorney pro tem for certain criminal
proceedings.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Articles 2.07(a), (b), (b-1), and (d), Code of
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Whenever an attorney for the state is disqualified to
act in any case or proceeding, is absent from the county or
district, or is otherwise unable to perform the duties of the
attorney's [his] office, or in any instance where there is no
attorney for the state, the judge of the court in which the attorney
[he] represents the state may appoint, from any county or district,
an [any competent] attorney for the state or may appoint an
assistant attorney general to perform the duties of the office
during the absence or disqualification of the attorney for the
state.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, [if the
appointed attorney is also an attorney for the state,] the duties of
the appointed office are additional duties of the appointed
attorney's [his] present office, and the attorney [he] is not
entitled to additional compensation. This subsection does not
[Nothing herein shall] prevent a commissioners court of a county
from contracting with another commissioners court to pay expenses
and reimburse compensation paid by a county to an attorney [for the
state] who is appointed to perform additional duties.
(b-1) An attorney for the state who is not disqualified to
act may request the court to permit the attorney's recusal [him to
recuse himself] in a case for good cause, and on [upon] approval by
the court the attorney is disqualified.
(d) In this article, "attorney for the state" means a county
attorney with criminal jurisdiction, a district attorney, or a
criminal district attorney.
SECTION 2. Chapter 20, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 20.013 to read as follows:
Art. 20.013. WHO MAY BE INVESTIGATED. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), a grand jury may not investigate a
person who is accused or suspected of an offense and may not vote to
present an indictment for the offense if the person has previously
been investigated by a grand jury for the same offense and that
grand jury found no bill of indictment.
(b) A grand jury may investigate, and may present an
indictment with respect to, a person described by Subsection (a)
only if the attorney representing the state establishes in an ex
parte hearing that it is in the interest of justice that the person
be investigated by a subsequent grand jury for the same offense.
SECTION 3. Article 27.03, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 27.03. MOTION TO SET ASIDE INDICTMENT. In addition to
any other grounds authorized by law, a motion to set aside an
indictment or information may be based on the following:
1. That it appears by the records of the court that the
indictment was not found by at least nine grand jurors, or that the
information was not based upon a valid complaint;
2. That some person not authorized by law was present when
the grand jury was deliberating upon the accusation against the
defendant, or was voting upon the same; [and]
3. That the grand jury was illegally impaneled; provided,
however, in order to raise such question on motion to set aside the
indictment, the defendant must show that the defendant [he] did not
have an opportunity to challenge the array at the time the grand
jury was impaneled; and
4. That the grand jury improperly investigated a person in
violation of Article 20.013.
SECTION 4. Article 52.09(c), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) An attorney pro tem appointed under Article 52.01(d) [of
this code] is entitled to compensation in the same amount and manner
as an attorney appointed to represent an indigent person [pro tem
appointed under Article 2.07 of this code]. The district judge
shall set the compensation of the attorney pro tem based on the
sworn testimony of the attorney or other evidence that is given in
open court.
SECTION 5. Section 574.004, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 574.004. ASSISTANCE BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. This
[Nothing in this] chapter does not [shall] prevent the attorney
general from providing assistance to district attorneys, criminal
district attorneys, and county attorneys on request by allowing
assistant attorneys general to serve as duly appointed and
deputized assistant prosecutors, nor does [shall] this chapter
prohibit the appointment of an assistant attorney general as an
attorney pro tem pursuant to Article 2.07, Code of Criminal
Procedure.
SECTION 6. Articles 2.07(c), (e), (f), and (g), Code of
Criminal Procedure, are repealed.
SECTION 7. The change in law made by this Act in amending
Article 2.07, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies only to the
appointment of an attorney pro tem that occurs on or after the
effective date of this Act. The appointment of an attorney pro tem
that occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect on the date the attorney pro tem was appointed, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
grand jury impaneled on or after the effective date of this Act. A
grand jury impaneled before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the grand jury was
impaneled, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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