HBA-TYH H.B. 193 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 193 By: Longoria Criminal Jurisprudence 2/8/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, a defendant in a criminal case is allowed to waive the right of trial by jury only with the consent of the district attorney or deputy district attorney. The nonjury process is simpler, less expensive, and more quickly expedited. However, it has been reported that for various reasons district or deputy district attorneys often refuse to consent to waivers in misdemeanor cases. The result is that many court dockets continue to increase, creating substantial backlogs. H.B. 193 eliminates the requirement for consent of the district attorney or deputy district attorney in a misdemeanor criminal trial in which the defendant is willing to waive a jury trial. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Article 1.13 (a), Code of Criminal Procedure, to provide that, if the offense is a felony, the defendant in a criminal case is authorized to waive the right of trial by jury only if the consent and approval of both the court and the attorney representing the state is given. SECTION 2. Provides that the change in law made by this Act is applicable only to the trial of an offense in which the defendant enters a plea on or after the effective date of this Act, whether the trial is for an offense committed before, on, or after the effective date of this Act. Provides that the trial of an offense in which the defendant entered a plea before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the plea was entered, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.