86R1889 AJZ-F
By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 246
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the composition and duties of the capital and forensic
writs committee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 78.002, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(b) The committee shall provide oversight and strategic
guidance to the office of capital and forensic writs, including:
(1) recommending [recommend] to the court of criminal
appeals as provided by Section 78.004 a director for the office of
capital and forensic writs when a vacancy exists for the position of
director;
(2) setting policy for the office of capital and
forensic writs; and
(3) developing a budget proposal for the office of
capital and forensic writs.
(c) The committee may not access privileged or confidential
information.
SECTION 2. Section 78.003, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsections (a-1),
(a-2), and (a-3) to read as follows:
(a) The committee is composed of the following seven [five]
members who are appointed as follows [by the president of the State
Bar of Texas, with ratification by the executive committee of the
State Bar of Texas]:
(1) three attorneys who are appointed by the executive
director of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission [members of the
State Bar of Texas and who are not employed as prosecutors or law
enforcement officials, all of whom must have criminal defense
experience with death penalty proceedings in this state]; [and]
(2) two attorneys who are appointed by the president
of the State Bar of Texas, with ratification by the executive
committee of the State Bar of Texas; and
(3) two attorneys, each of whom are appointed by a
majority of the deans of the public law schools in this state [two
state district judges, one of whom serves as presiding judge of an
administrative judicial region].
(a-1) Each member of the committee must be a licensed
attorney and must have significant experience in capital defense or
indigent criminal defense policy or practice. A member of the
committee may not be a prosecutor, a law enforcement official, a
judge of a court that presides over criminal offenses, or an
employee of the office of capital and forensic writs.
(a-2) Members of the committee serve four-year terms and may
be reappointed.
(a-3) If a vacancy occurs, the appropriate appointing
authority shall appoint a person to serve for the remainder of the
unexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment.
(c) The committee shall meet [members serve at the pleasure
of the president of the State Bar of Texas, and the committee meets]
at the call of the presiding officer of the committee.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.