Bill Text: TX HB419 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to providing certain information to criminal defendants charged with certain drug offenses before a plea is entered.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-16 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [HB419 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB419-Introduced.html
| 85R1401 JSC-D | ||
| By: White | H.B. No. 419 | |
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| relating to providing certain information to criminal defendants | ||
| charged with certain drug offenses before a plea is entered. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Article 26.13, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
| amended by adding Subsections (j) and (k) to read as follows: | ||
| (j) Before accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendere | ||
| with reference to an offense under Chapter 481, 483, or 485, Health | ||
| and Safety Code, for which the indictment is based on the results of | ||
| a field test indicating the presence of a prohibited substance, the | ||
| court shall inform the defendant that the prohibited substance was | ||
| identified on the basis of a field test conducted by law enforcement | ||
| and not on the basis of a forensic analysis conducted by an | ||
| accredited crime laboratory. | ||
| (k) The court must substantially comply with Subsection | ||
| (j). The failure of the court to comply with Subsection (j) is not a | ||
| ground for reversal unless the defendant shows that the defendant | ||
| was harmed by the failure of the court to provide the information. | ||
| SECTION 2. Articles 26.13(j) and (k), Code of Criminal | ||
| Procedure, as added by this Act, apply to a plea of guilty or nolo | ||
| contendere entered on or after the effective date of this Act, | ||
| regardless of whether the offense with reference to which the plea | ||
| is entered is committed before, on, or after that date. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. | ||
