Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4187 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R10608 TSS-D
2	2	By: Schofield H.B. No. 4187
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the jurisdiction of the Texas Supreme Court and the
8	8	Court of Criminal Appeals.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Article 4.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	Art. 4.01. WHAT COURTS HAVE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION. The
13	13	following courts have jurisdiction in criminal actions:
14	14	1. The Court of Criminal Appeals;
15	15	2. The Texas Supreme Court in questions certified
16	16	under Section 3, Article 4.04;
17	17	3. Courts of appeals;
18	18	4. [3.] The district courts;
19	19	5. [4.] The criminal district courts;
20	20	6. [5.] The magistrates appointed by the judges of the
21	21	district courts of Bexar County, Dallas County, Tarrant County, or
22	22	Travis County that give preference to criminal cases and the
23	23	magistrates appointed by the judges of the criminal district courts
24	24	of Dallas County or Tarrant County;
25	25	7. [6.] The county courts;
26	26	8. [7.] All county courts at law with criminal
27	27	jurisdiction;
28	28	9. [8.] County criminal courts;
29	29	10. [9.] Justice courts;
30	30	11. [10.] Municipal courts;
31	31	12. [11.] The magistrates appointed by the judges of
32	32	the district courts of Lubbock County;
33	33	13. [12.] The magistrates appointed by the El Paso
34	34	Council of Judges;
35	35	14. [13.] The magistrates appointed by the Collin
36	36	County Commissioners Court;
37	37	15. [14.] The magistrates appointed by the Brazoria
38	38	County Commissioners Court or the local administrative judge for
39	39	Brazoria County; and
40	40	16. [15.] The magistrates appointed by the judges of
41	41	the district courts of Tom Green County.
42	42	SECTION 2. Article 4.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
43	43	amended to read as follows:
44	44	Art. 4.04. COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
45	45	Sec. 1. Except as provided by Section 3, the [The] Court of
46	46	Criminal Appeals and each judge thereof shall have, and is hereby
47	47	given, the power and authority to grant and issue and cause the
48	48	issuance of writs of habeas corpus, and, in criminal law matters,
49	49	the writs of mandamus, procedendo, prohibition, and certiorari.
50	50	The court and each judge thereof shall have, and is hereby given,
51	51	the power and authority to grant and issue and cause the issuance of
52	52	such other writs as may be necessary to protect its jurisdiction or
53	53	enforce its judgments.
54	54	Sec. 2. Except as provided by Section 3, the [The] Court of
55	55	Criminal Appeals shall have, and is hereby given, final appellate
56	56	and review jurisdiction in criminal cases coextensive with the
57	57	limits of the state, and its determinations shall be final. The
58	58	appeal of all cases in which the death penalty has been assessed
59	59	shall be to the Court of Criminal Appeals. In addition, the Court
60	60	of Criminal Appeals may, on its own motion, with or without a
61	61	petition for such discretionary review being filed by one of the
62	62	parties, review any decision of a court of appeals in a criminal
63	63	case other than a question described by Section 3. Discretionary
64	64	review by the Court of Criminal Appeals is not a matter of right,
65	65	but of sound judicial discretion.
66	66	Sec. 3. If the Court of Criminal Appeals determines that a
67	67	petition or appeal presents a question regarding the interpretation
68	68	of a provision of the Texas Constitution, the court may not issue an
69	69	order on the petition or in the appeal before first certifying the
70	70	question to the Texas Supreme Court and receiving an answer. The
71	71	Texas Supreme Court's determination on a question certified to that
72	72	court under this section is final and binding on the Court of
73	73	Criminal Appeals.
74	74	SECTION 3. Section 22.001, Government Code, is amended by
75	75	amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
76	76	follows:
77	77	(a) The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction, except in
78	78	criminal law matters other than a question certified under Section
79	79	3, Article 4.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, of an appealable order
80	80	or judgment of the trial courts if the court determines that the
81	81	appeal presents a question of law that is important to the
82	82	jurisprudence of the state. The supreme court's jurisdiction does
83	83	not include cases in which the jurisdiction of the court of appeals
84	84	is made final by statute.
85	85	(a-1) The supreme court has jurisdiction to finally
86	86	determine questions regarding the interpretation of a provision of
87	87	the Texas Constitution certified to the court by the court of
88	88	criminal appeals under Section 3, Article 4.04, Code of Criminal
89	89	Procedure.
90	90	SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply to a
91	91	petition or appeal filed in the court of criminal appeals on or
92	92	after the effective date of this Act. A petition or appeal filed in
93	93	the court of criminal appeals before the effective date of this Act
94	94	is governed by the law in effect on the date the petition or appeal
95	95	was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
96	96	purpose.
97	97	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
98	98	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
99	99	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
100	100	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
101	101	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.