HBA-KMH H.B. 234 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 234 By: Keel Criminal Jurisprudence 1/15/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law establishes a search warrant affidavit as a public record upon execution of the warrant. Due to a lack of specificity regarding where the records are to be made available, some counties have failed to make the records available for review at all. H.B. 234 clarifies the current law by specifying that the records will be made available in the office of the magistrate's clerk during regular business hours. 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 18.01(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, by requiring the magistrate's clerk to make available to the public in the clerk's office during regular business hours a copy of an affidavit made for the purposes of securing a search warrant. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.