Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1481 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R3637 SRS-D
2	2	By: Murr H.B. No. 1481
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the composition of the 38th Judicial District, the
8	8	creation of the 454th Judicial District composed of Medina County,
9	9	the creation of the office of criminal district attorney of Medina
10	10	County, and the abolishment of the office of county attorney for
11	11	Medina County.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 24.140, Government Code, is amended to
14	14	read as follows:
15	15	Sec. 24.140. 38TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT ([MEDINA,] REAL[,] AND
16	16	UVALDE COUNTIES). [(a)] The 38th Judicial District is composed of
17	17	[Medina,] Real[,] and Uvalde counties.
18	18	[(b) The terms of the 38th District Court begin:
19	19	[(1) in Medina County on the first Mondays in January
20	20	and June;
21	21	[(2) in Real County on the first Mondays in April and
22	22	November; and
23	23	[(3) in Uvalde County on the first Mondays in February
24	24	and September.]
25	25	SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 24, Government Code, is
26	26	amended by adding Section 24.598 to read as follows:
27	27	Sec. 24.598. 454TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT (MEDINA COUNTY). The
28	28	454th Judicial District is composed of Medina County.
29	29	SECTION 3. Section 44.001, Government Code, is amended to
30	30	read as follows:
31	31	Sec. 44.001. ELECTION. The voters of each of the following
32	32	counties elect a criminal district attorney: Anderson, Austin,
33	33	Bastrop, Bexar, Bowie, Brazoria, Caldwell, Calhoun, Cass, Collin,
34	34	Comal, Dallas, Deaf Smith, Denton, Eastland, Fannin, Galveston,
35	35	Grayson, Gregg, Harrison, Hays, Hidalgo, Jackson, Jasper,
36	36	Jefferson, Kaufman, Kendall, Lubbock, McLennan, Madison, Medina,
37	37	Navarro, Newton, Panola, Polk, Randall, Rockwall, San Jacinto,
38	38	Smith, Tarrant, Taylor, Tyler, Upshur, Van Zandt, Victoria, Walker,
39	39	Waller, Wichita, Wood, and Yoakum.
40	40	SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 44, Government Code, is
41	41	amended by adding Section 44.263 to read as follows:
42	42	Sec. 44.263. MEDINA COUNTY. (a) The criminal district
43	43	attorney of Medina County must meet the following qualifications:
44	44	(1) be at least 30 years old;
45	45	(2) have been a practicing attorney in this state for
46	46	at least five years; and
47	47	(3) have been a resident of Medina County for at least
48	48	one year before election or appointment.
49	49	(b) The criminal district attorney has all the powers,
50	50	duties, and privileges in Medina County that are conferred by law on
51	51	county and district attorneys in the various counties and
52	52	districts.
53	53	(c) The criminal district attorney shall attend each term
54	54	and session of the district and inferior courts of Medina County,
55	55	except municipal courts, held for the transaction of criminal
56	56	business and shall exclusively represent the state in all criminal
57	57	matters before those courts.
58	58	(d) The criminal district attorney shall represent Medina
59	59	County in any court in which the county has pending business. This
60	60	subsection does not require the criminal district attorney to
61	61	represent the county in a delinquent tax suit or condemnation
62	62	proceeding and does not prevent the county from retaining other
63	63	legal counsel in a civil matter at any time it considers
64	64	appropriate.
65	65	(e) The criminal district attorney shall collect the fees,
66	66	commissions, and perquisites that are provided by law for similar
67	67	services rendered by a district or county attorney.
68	68	(f) The criminal district attorney is entitled to receive in
69	69	equal monthly installments compensation from the state equal to the
70	70	amount paid by the state to district attorneys. The state
71	71	compensation shall be paid by the comptroller as appropriated by
72	72	the legislature. The Commissioners Court of Medina County shall
73	73	pay the criminal district attorney an additional amount so that the
74	74	total compensation of the criminal district attorney equals at
75	75	least 90 percent of the total salary paid to the judge of the 454th
76	76	District Court in Medina County. The compensation paid by the
77	77	county shall be paid in semiweekly or bimonthly installments, as
78	78	determined by the commissioners court.
79	79	(g) The criminal district attorney or the Commissioners
80	80	Court of Medina County may accept gifts and grants from any
81	81	individual, partnership, corporation, trust, foundation,
82	82	association, or governmental entity for the purpose of financing or
83	83	assisting effective prosecution, crime prevention or suppression,
84	84	rehabilitation of offenders, substance abuse education, treatment
85	85	and prevention, or crime victim assistance programs in Medina
86	86	County. The criminal district attorney shall account for and
87	87	report to the commissioners court all gifts or grants accepted
88	88	under this subsection.
89	89	(h) The criminal district attorney, for the purpose of
90	90	conducting affairs of the office, may appoint a staff composed of
91	91	assistant criminal district attorneys, investigators,
92	92	stenographers, clerks, and other personnel that the commissioners
93	93	court may authorize. The salary of a staff member is an amount
94	94	recommended by the criminal district attorney and approved by the
95	95	commissioners court. The commissioners court shall pay the
96	96	salaries of the staff in equal semiweekly or bimonthly installments
97	97	from county funds.
98	98	(i) The criminal district attorney shall, with the advice
99	99	and consent of the commissioners court, designate one or more
100	100	individuals to act as an assistant criminal district attorney with
101	101	exclusive responsibility for assisting the commissioners court. An
102	102	individual designated as an assistant criminal district attorney
103	103	under this subsection must have extensive experience in
104	104	representing public entities and knowledge of the laws affecting
105	105	counties, including the open meetings and open records laws under
106	106	Chapters 551 and 552.
107	107	(j) Medina County is entitled to receive from the state an
108	108	amount equal to the amount provided in the General Appropriations
109	109	Act to district attorneys for the payment of staff salaries and
110	110	office expenses.
111	111	(k) The legislature may provide for additional staff
112	112	members to be paid from state funds if it considers supplementation
113	113	of the criminal district attorney's staff to be necessary.
114	114	(l) The criminal district attorney and assistant criminal
115	115	district attorney may not engage in the private practice of law or
116	116	receive a fee for the referral of a case.
117	117	SECTION 5. Section 46.002, Government Code, is amended to
118	118	read as follows:
119	119	Sec. 46.002. PROSECUTORS SUBJECT TO CHAPTER. This chapter
120	120	applies to the state prosecuting attorney, all county prosecutors,
121	121	and the following state prosecutors:
122	122	(1) the district attorneys for Kenedy and Kleberg
123	123	Counties and for the 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 18th, 21st, 23rd, 26th,
124	124	27th, 29th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th, 38th, 39th, 42nd,
125	125	43rd, 46th, 47th, 49th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 63rd, 64th, 66th,
126	126	69th, 70th, 76th, 79th, 81st, 83rd, 84th, 85th, 88th, 90th, 97th,
127	127	100th, 105th, 106th, 109th, 110th, 112th, 118th, 119th, 123rd,
128	128	132nd, 142nd, 143rd, 145th, 156th, 159th, 173rd, 196th, 198th,
129	129	216th, 220th, 229th, 235th, 253rd, 258th, 259th, 266th, 268th,
130	130	271st, 286th, 287th, 329th, 344th, 349th, 355th, 369th, 452nd, and
131	131	506th judicial districts;
132	132	(2) the criminal district attorneys for the counties
133	133	of Anderson, Austin, Bastrop, Bexar, Bowie, Brazoria, Caldwell,
134	134	Calhoun, Cass, Collin, Comal, Dallas, Deaf Smith, Denton, Eastland,
135	135	Fannin, Galveston, Grayson, Gregg, Harrison, Hays, Hidalgo,
136	136	Jasper, Jefferson, Kaufman, Kendall, Lubbock, McLennan, Madison,
137	137	Medina, Navarro, Newton, Panola, Polk, Randall, Rockwall, San
138	138	Jacinto, Smith, Tarrant, Taylor, Tyler, Upshur, Van Zandt,
139	139	Victoria, Walker, Waller, Wichita, Wood, and Yoakum; and
140	140	(3) the county attorneys performing the duties of
141	141	district attorneys in the counties of Andrews, Aransas, Callahan,
142	142	Cameron, Castro, Colorado, Crosby, Ellis, Falls, Freestone,
143	143	Gonzales, Guadalupe, Lamar, Lamb, Lampasas, Lavaca, Lee,
144	144	Limestone, Marion, Milam, Morris, Ochiltree, Oldham, Orange,
145	145	Rains, Red River, Robertson, Rusk, Swisher, Terry, Webb, and
146	146	Willacy.
147	147	SECTION 6. (a) The local administrative district judge
148	148	shall transfer to the 454th District Court all cases from Medina
149	149	County that are pending in the 38th District Court on the effective
150	150	date of this Act.
151	151	(b) When a case is transferred as provided by Subsection (a)
152	152	of this section:
153	153	(1) all processes, writs, bonds, recognizances, or
154	154	other obligations issued from the 38th District Court are
155	155	returnable to the 454th District Court as if originally issued by
156	156	that court; and
157	157	(2) the obligees on all bonds and recognizances taken
158	158	in and for the 38th District Court and all witnesses summoned to
159	159	appear in the 38th District Court are required to appear before the
160	160	454th District Court as if originally required to appear before
161	161	that court.
162	162	(c) The 454th Judicial District is created on the effective
163	163	date of this Act.
164	164	(d) The office of county attorney of Medina County is
165	165	abolished on the effective date of this Act.
166	166	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.