| 1 | | - | H.B. No. 300 |
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| 1 | + | By: Murr, Lang (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 300 |
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| 2 | + | (In the Senate - Received from the House May 2, 2019; |
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| 3 | + | May 3, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal |
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| 4 | + | Justice; May 15, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote: |
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| 5 | + | Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 15, 2019, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | + | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 4 | 10 | | AN ACT |
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| 5 | 11 | | relating to inquest summary reports and the preservation of |
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| 6 | 12 | | evidence collected in the course of an inquest. |
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| 7 | 13 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 8 | 14 | | SECTION 1. Article 49.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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| 9 | 15 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 10 | 16 | | Art. 49.17. EVIDENCE. A justice of the peace shall preserve |
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| 11 | 17 | | all tangible evidence that the justice accumulates in the course of |
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| 12 | 18 | | an inquest that tends to show the real cause of death or identify |
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| 13 | 19 | | the person who caused the death. The justice shall[: |
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| 14 | 20 | | [(1)] deposit the evidence with the appropriate law |
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| 15 | 21 | | enforcement agency to be stored in the agency's property room for |
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| 16 | 22 | | safekeeping[; or |
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| 17 | 23 | | [(2) deliver the evidence to the district clerk for |
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| 18 | 24 | | safekeeping subject to the order of the court]. |
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| 19 | 25 | | SECTION 2. Article 49.15(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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| 20 | 26 | | repealed. |
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| 21 | 27 | | SECTION 3. The certified copy of an inquest summary report |
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| 22 | 28 | | received and maintained by a district court clerk under Article |
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| 23 | 29 | | 49.15(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, as it existed immediately |
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| 24 | 30 | | before the effective date of this Act, may be destroyed by the clerk |
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| 25 | 31 | | in accordance with the district court's records retention schedule. |
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| 26 | 32 | | SECTION 4. As soon as practicable after the effective date |
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| 27 | 33 | | of this Act, each district clerk in possession of evidence |
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| 28 | 34 | | delivered to the clerk for safekeeping under Article 49.17, Code of |
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| 29 | 35 | | Criminal Procedure, as that article existed immediately before the |
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| 30 | 36 | | effective date of this Act, shall transfer the evidence to the |
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| 31 | 37 | | appropriate law enforcement agency for safekeeping as provided by |
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| 32 | 38 | | Article 49.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act. |
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| 33 | 39 | | SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 34 | 40 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 35 | 41 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 36 | 42 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 37 | 43 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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| 38 | | - | ______________________________ ______________________________ |
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| 39 | | - | President of the Senate Speaker of the House |
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| 40 | | - | I certify that H.B. No. 300 was passed by the House on May 2, |
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| 41 | | - | 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 1 present, not |
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| 42 | | - | voting. |
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| 43 | | - | ______________________________ |
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| 44 | | - | Chief Clerk of the House |
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| 45 | | - | I certify that H.B. No. 300 was passed by the Senate on May |
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| 46 | | - | 21, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. |
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| 47 | | - | ______________________________ |
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| 48 | | - | Secretary of the Senate |
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| 49 | | - | APPROVED: _____________________ |
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| 50 | | - | Date |
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| 51 | | - | _____________________ |
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| 52 | | - | Governor |
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| 44 | + | * * * * * |
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