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.