HBA-BSM H.B. 2865 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2865
By: Sadler
Criminal Jurisprudence
3/29/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, district judges are required to seat 12 grand jurors and
two alternatives to comprise a formal grand jury.  The law provides that no
more than 20 persons may be summoned to comprise the actual grand jury pool
that the 14 grand jurors are then selected from.  However, problems may
arise if persons are eligible to be excused from jury duty, in some cases
causing a new grand jury pool to be summoned.  House Bill 2865 authorizes
the jury commissioners to select more than the current number of 20 jurors.

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. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 2865 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to increase from 20
to 30 the maximum number of grand jurors that the jury commissioners are
authorized to select for the next term of court.  The bill also increases
from 20 to 30 the number of persons the district judge may require the jury
commission to select, through a writ commanding the sheriff to summon the
commission, after the commencement of a term. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.