H.B. No. 1996
AN ACT
relating to admonitions given by a court to a defendant before
accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 26.13, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to
read as follows:
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (d-1), the [The] court
may make the admonitions required by this article either orally or
in writing. If the court makes the admonitions in writing, it must
receive a statement signed by the defendant and the defendant's
attorney that the defendant [he] understands the admonitions and is
aware of the consequences of the [his] plea. If the defendant is
unable or refuses to sign the statement, the court shall make the
admonitions orally.
(d-1) The court shall make the admonition required by
Subsection (a)(4) both orally and in writing. Unless the court has
received the statement as described by Subsection (d), the court
must receive a statement signed by the defendant and the
defendant's attorney that the defendant understands the admonition
required by Subsection (a)(4) and is aware of the consequences of
the plea. If the defendant is unable or refuses to sign the
statement, the court shall make a record of that fact.
SECTION 2. Article 26.13, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a plea of guilty or a plea of
nolo contendere accepted by a court on or after September 1, 2019,
regardless of whether the offense for which the plea was submitted
was committed before, on, or after that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1996 was passed by the House on April
17, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 133, Nays 5, 3 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1996 was passed by the Senate on May
10, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor