Bill Text: TX HB4671 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the qualifications and summoning of grand jurors.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-11 - Placed on General State Calendar [HB4671 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB4671-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to the qualifications and summoning of grand jurors.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-11 - Placed on General State Calendar [HB4671 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB4671-Introduced.html
88R6251 JTZ-F | ||
By: Hayes | H.B. No. 4671 |
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relating to the qualifications and summoning of grand jurors. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Article 19A.052, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Art. 19A.052. QUALIFIED PERSONS SUMMONED. On directing the | ||
sheriff or clerk of the district court to summon grand jurors, the | ||
court shall instruct the sheriff or clerk of the district court to | ||
not summon a person to serve as a grand juror who does not possess | ||
the qualifications prescribed by law. | ||
SECTION 2. Article 19A.053, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Art. 19A.053. ADDITIONAL QUALIFIED PERSONS SUMMONED. (a) | ||
If fewer than 16 persons summoned to serve as grand jurors are found | ||
to be in attendance and qualified to serve, the court shall order | ||
the sheriff or clerk of the district court to summon an additional | ||
number of persons considered necessary to constitute a grand jury | ||
of 12 grand jurors and four alternate grand jurors. | ||
(b) The sheriff or clerk of the district court shall summon | ||
the additional prospective grand jurors under Subsection (a) in | ||
person to attend before the court immediately. | ||
SECTION 3. Article 19A.101, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Art. 19A.101. GRAND JUROR QUALIFICATIONS. (a) A person may | ||
be selected or serve as a grand juror only if the person: | ||
(1) is at least 18 years of age; | ||
(2) is a citizen of the United States; | ||
(3) is a resident of this state and of the county in | ||
which the person is to serve; | ||
(4) is qualified under the constitution and other laws | ||
to vote in the county in which the grand jury is sitting, regardless | ||
of whether the person is registered to vote; | ||
(5) is of sound mind and good moral character; | ||
(6) is able to read and write; | ||
(7) has never [ |
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theft or a felony; | ||
(8) is not under indictment or other legal accusation | ||
for misdemeanor theft or a felony; | ||
(9) is not related within the third degree by | ||
consanguinity or second degree by affinity, as determined under | ||
Chapter 573, Government Code, to any person selected to serve or | ||
serving on the same grand jury; | ||
(10) has not served as a grand juror in the year before | ||
the date on which the term of court for which the person has been | ||
selected as a grand juror begins; and | ||
(11) is not a complainant in any matter to be heard by | ||
the grand jury during the term of court for which the person has | ||
been selected as a grand juror. | ||
(b) On the third business day of each month, the clerk of the | ||
district court shall prepare a list of persons who in the preceding | ||
month were disqualified from serving as a grand juror based on the | ||
person's citizenship or indictment or conviction for misdemeanor | ||
theft or a felony and send a copy of the list to: | ||
(1) the secretary of state; and | ||
(2) the prosecuting attorney for the court to which | ||
the grand jurors were summoned for investigation into whether any | ||
person made a false claim concerning the person's qualification | ||
under Subsection (a)(2), (7), or (8). | ||
SECTION 4. This Act applies only to the summoning of grand | ||
jurors on or after the effective date of this Act. The summoning of | ||
grand jurors before the effective date of this Act is governed by | ||
the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, | ||
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |