Bill Text: TX SJR50 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the denial of pretrial release of a person accused of a noncapital offense if necessary to ensure the person's appearance in court and the safety of the community and the victim of the alleged offense.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-04 - No action taken in committee [SJR50 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SJR50-Introduced.html

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85R7448 MAW-F
By: Whitmire S.J.R. No. 50

A JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the denial of
pretrial release of a person accused of a noncapital offense if
necessary to ensure the person's appearance in court and the safety
of the community and the victim of the alleged offense.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11, Article I, Texas Constitution, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 11. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section and Sections 11a, 11b, and 11c of this article, any person
accused of an offense [All prisoners] shall be eligible for
pretrial release, whether on a bail bond or a personal bond
[bailable by sufficient sureties], unless the person is accused of
a [for] capital offense for which [offenses, when] the proof is
evident; but this provision shall not be [so] construed [as] to
prevent pretrial release [bail] after indictment found upon
examination of the evidence, in such manner as may be prescribed by
law.
(b) A person may be denied pretrial release if a judge or
magistrate determines by clear and convincing evidence that
requiring bail and conditions of release are insufficient to
reasonably ensure:
(1) the person's appearance in court as required; or
(2) the safety of the community or the victim of the
alleged offense.
SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 7, 2017.
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the denial
of pretrial release of a person accused of a noncapital offense if
necessary to ensure the person's appearance in court and the safety
of the community and the victim of the alleged offense."