Bill Text: TX HB718 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the disposition by a peace officer of certain Class B misdemeanors.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-01 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [HB718 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB718-Introduced.html

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87R3556 MAW-F
By: Gervin-Hawkins H.B. No. 718

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the disposition by a peace officer of certain Class B
misdemeanors.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 14.06(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this article or Article
14.07, in each case enumerated in this Code, the person making the
arrest or the person having custody of the person arrested shall
take the person arrested or have that person [him] taken without
unnecessary delay, but not later than 48 hours after the person is
arrested, before the magistrate who may have ordered the arrest,
before some magistrate of the county where the arrest was made
without an order, or, to provide more expeditiously to the person
arrested the warnings described by Article 15.17 [of this Code],
before a magistrate in any other county of this state. The
magistrate shall immediately perform the duties described in
Article 15.17 [of this Code].
SECTION 2. Chapter 14, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 14.07 to read as follows:
Art. 14.07. DISPOSITION WITHOUT TAKING OFFENDER BEFORE
MAGISTRATE. (a) A peace officer may dispose of a case based on a
Class B misdemeanor without taking the alleged offender before a
magistrate if:
(1) the disposition is authorized by and is performed
in accordance with guidelines adopted by either:
(A) the district judges trying criminal cases in
each judicial district of the county in which the alleged offender
is arrested and the statutory county court judges trying criminal
cases in the county or counties served by the judicial districts; or
(B) the community justice council serving the
county in which the alleged offender is arrested; and
(2) the peace officer makes a written report of the
officer's disposition to the law enforcement agency employing the
officer, identifying the alleged offender and specifying the
grounds for the disposition.
(b) This article does not apply to a Class B misdemeanor
under:
(1) Section 22.01, 25.04, 37.12, 38.02, 42.01, 42.02,
49.04, 49.05, 49.06, or 49.065, Penal Code; or
(2) Section 545.421, Transportation Code.
(c) Guidelines adopted under Subsection (a)(1) may allow a
peace officer to dispose of a case by:
(1) referring an alleged offender to a governmental
agency other than a court;
(2) referring an alleged offender to one or more
service providers on a list approved by the judges or the community
justice council that adopted the guidelines, such as a
community-based drug or mental health treatment program, a
faith-based organization, a neighborhood restorative justice
panel, or a homeless shelter; or
(3) issuing a warning.
(d) Guidelines adopted under Subsection (a)(1) may not
allow a law enforcement agency to:
(1) keep an alleged offender in custody; or
(2) require an alleged offender to report periodically
to a peace officer or a law enforcement agency or any other
governmental agency.
(e) Not later than January 31 of each year, a law
enforcement agency that is authorized to dispose of a case by
guidelines adopted under Subsection (a)(1) must report to the
judges or the community justice council that adopted the guidelines
the number and kind of dispositions made during the preceding
calendar year by the law enforcement agency and any other
information requested by the judges or council.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.