HBA-KDB S.B. 219 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 219
By: Armbrister
Criminal Jurisprudence
4/3/2001
Engrossed



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, a person arrested in a county other than the one in
which the person committed an offense is required to be taken before a
magistrate of the county in which the offense occurred.  There is concern
that this may be inconvenient to and costly for an arrested person, because
of the time required to transport a person from the arresting county to the
county in which the offense occurred and because transportation costs from
one county to another may exceed the fines collected for the offense.
Senate Bill 219 authorizes a person arrested for an out-of-county offense
punishable by fine only to enter a written plea of guilty or nolo
contendere. 

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

Senate Bill 219 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to authorize a
defendant who is taken before a magistrate for an out-of-county offense to
waive trial by jury and enter a written plea of guilty or nolo contendere.

Senate Bill 219 requires a magistrate to accept from a person arrested
under a warrant issued in another county for an offense punishable by fine
only, a written plea of guilty or nolo contendere, set a fine, determine
costs, accept payment of the fine and costs, give credit for time served,
determine indigency, or, on satisfaction of the judgment, discharge the
defendant, as the case may indicate.  The bill requires that the
magistrate, before the 11th business day after the date a magistrate
accepts a written plea of guilty or nolo contendere in a case in which a
person is arrested in a county other than the one where the warrant is
issued, transmit the written plea, any orders entered in the case, and any
fine or costs collected in the case to the court having jurisdiction of the
offense. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.