Bill Text: TX HB2150 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to the organization of a grand jury.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)

Status: (Passed) 2015-06-18 - Effective on 9/1/15 [HB2150 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB2150-Engrossed.html

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By: Alvarado, Herrero, Riddle, Moody, Wu H.B. No. 2150

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the organization of a grand jury and qualifications for
service as a grand juror.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 19.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.01. APPOINTMENT OF GRAND JURY [COMMISSIONERS;
SELECTION WITHOUT JURY COMMISSION]. [(a)] The [district judge, at
or during any term of court, shall appoint not less than three, nor
more than five persons to perform the duties of jury commissioners,
and shall cause the sheriff to notify them of their appointment, and
when and where they are to appear. The district judge shall, in the
order appointing such commissioners, designate whether such
commissioners shall serve during the term at which selected or for
the next succeeding term. Such commissioners shall receive as
compensation for each day or part thereof they may serve the sum of
Ten Dollars, and they shall possess the following qualifications:
[1. Be intelligent citizens of the county and able to read
and write the English language;
[2. Be qualified jurors in the county;
[3. Have no suit in said court which requires intervention
of a jury;
[4. Be residents of different portions of the county; and
[5. The same person shall not act as jury commissioner more
than once in any 12-month period.
[(b) In lieu of the selection of prospective jurors by means
of a jury commission, the] district judge shall [may] direct that 20
to 125 prospective grand jurors be selected and summoned, with
return on summons, in the same manner as for the selection and
summons of panels for the trial of civil cases in the district
courts. The judge shall try the qualifications for and excuses from
service as a grand juror and impanel the completed grand jury [in
the same manner] as provided by this chapter [for grand jurors
selected by a jury commission].
SECTION 2. Article 19.07, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.07. EXTENSION BEYOND TERM OF PERIOD FOR WHICH GRAND
JURORS SHALL SIT. If prior to the expiration of the term for which
the grand jury was impaneled, it is made to appear by a declaration
of the foreman or of a majority of the grand jurors in open court,
that the investigation by the grand jury of the matters before it
cannot be concluded before the expiration of the term, the judge of
the district court in which said grand jury was impaneled may, by
the entry of an order on the minutes of said court, extend, from
time to time, for the purpose of concluding the investigation of
matters then before it, the period during which said grand jury
shall sit, for not to exceed a total of ninety days after the
expiration of the term for which it was impaneled, and all
indictments pertaining thereto returned by the grand jury within
said extended period shall be as valid as if returned before the
expiration of the term. [The extension of the term of a grand jury
under this article does not affect the provisions of Article 19.06
relating to the selection and summoning of grand jurors for each
regularly scheduled term.]
SECTION 3. Article 19.08, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.08. QUALIFICATIONS. No person shall be selected or
serve as a grand juror who does not possess the following
qualifications:
1. The person must be a citizen of the state, and of
the county in which the person is to serve, and be qualified under
the Constitution and laws to vote in said county, provided that the
person's failure to register to vote shall not be held to disqualify
the person in this instance;
2. The person must be of sound mind and good moral
character;
3. The person must be able to read and write;
4. The person must not have been convicted of
misdemeanor theft or a felony;
5. The person must not be under indictment or other
legal accusation for misdemeanor theft or a felony;
6. The person must not be related within the third
degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity, as determined
under Chapter 573, Government Code, to any person selected to serve
or serving on the same grand jury;
7. The person must not have served as grand juror [or
jury commissioner] in the year before the date on which the term of
court for which the person has been selected as grand juror begins;
and
8. The person must not be a complainant in any matter
to be heard by the grand jury during the term of court for which the
person has been selected as a grand juror.
SECTION 4. Article 19.19, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.19. JURORS TO ATTEND FORTHWITH. The jurors
provided for in Article 19.18 [the two preceding Articles] shall be
summoned in person to attend before the court forthwith.
SECTION 5. Article 19.20, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.20. TO SUMMON QUALIFIED PERSONS. On [Upon]
directing the sheriff to summon grand jurors [not selected by the
jury commissioners], the court shall instruct the sheriff [him]
that the sheriff [he] must not summon any [no] person to serve as a
grand juror who does not possess the qualifications prescribed by
law.
SECTION 6. Article 19.26(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The grand jury is composed of not more than twelve
qualified jurors. In addition, the court shall qualify and impanel
not more than four [two] alternates to serve on disqualification or
unavailability of a juror during the term of the grand jury. On
learning that a grand juror has become disqualified or unavailable
during the term of the grand jury, the attorney representing the
state shall prepare an order for the court identifying the
disqualified or unavailable juror, stating the basis for the
disqualification or unavailability, dismissing the disqualified or
unavailable juror from the grand jury, and naming one of the
alternates as a member of the grand jury. The procedure established
by this subsection may be used on disqualification or
unavailability of a second or subsequent grand juror during the
term of the grand jury. For purposes of this subsection, a juror is
unavailable if the juror is unable to participate fully in the
duties of the grand jury because the juror is unwilling to serve on
the grand jury or is otherwise neglecting the juror's duty to serve,
or because of the death of the juror or a physical or mental illness
of the juror.
SECTION 7. Article 19.30, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.30. CHALLENGE TO "ARRAY". A challenge to the
"array" shall be made in writing for these causes only:
1. That those summoned as grand jurors are not in fact
those selected by the method provided by Article 19.01 [19.01(b) of
this chapter or by the jury commissioners]; and
2. That [In case of grand jurors summoned by order of
the court, that] the officer who summoned the grand jurors [them
had] acted corruptly in summoning any one or more of them.
SECTION 8. Article 19.31, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.31. CHALLENGE TO JUROR. (a) A challenge to a
particular grand juror may be made orally for any of the following
causes [only]:
1. That the juror is insane;
2. That the juror has such defect in the organs of
feeling or hearing, or such bodily or mental defect or disease as to
render the juror unfit for jury service, or that the juror is
legally blind and the court in its discretion is not satisfied that
the juror is fit for jury service in that particular case;
3. That the juror is a witness or a target in an
investigation by a grand jury;
4. That the juror served on a petit jury in a former
trial of the same alleged conduct or offense that the grand jury is
investigating;
5. That the juror has a bias or prejudice in favor of
or against the person accused or suspected of committing an offense
that the grand jury is investigating;
6. That from hearsay, or otherwise, there is
established in the mind of the juror such a conclusion as to the
guilt or innocence of the person accused or suspected of committing
an offense that the grand jury is investigating as would influence
the juror's vote on the presentment of an indictment;
7. That the juror is related within the third degree by
consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
Government Code, to a person accused or suspected of committing an
offense that the grand jury is investigating or to a person who is a
victim of an offense that the grand jury is investigating;
8. That the juror has a bias or prejudice against any
phase of the law upon which the state is entitled to rely for an
indictment;
9. That the juror [he] is not a qualified juror; and
10. [2.] That the juror [he] is the prosecutor upon an
accusation against the person making the challenge.
(a-1) A challenge under Subdivision (a)(3) may be made ex
parte and shall be reviewed and ruled upon in camera. Any record of
the challenge shall be placed under seal by the court.
(b) In this article, "legally blind" has the meaning
assigned by Article 35.16(a).
SECTION 9. Chapter 19, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 19.315 to read as follows:
Art. 19.315. RECUSAL OF JUROR. (a) If, during the course of
a juror's service on the grand jury, the juror determines that the
juror could be subject to a valid challenge for cause under Article
19.31, the juror shall recuse himself or herself from grand jury
service until the cause no longer exists. A person who knowingly
fails to recuse himself or herself under this subsection may be held
in contempt of court. A person authorized to be present in the grand
jury room shall report a known violation of this subsection to the
court.
(b) The court shall instruct the grand jury as to the duty
imposed by Subsection (a).
SECTION 10. Section 24.014(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The judge may impanel [appoint jury commissioners who
select and draw] grand and petit jurors as provided by law. The
jurors may be summoned to appear before the court at the time
designated by the judge.
SECTION 11. Section 24.135(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) The judge of the 33rd District Court may [select jury
commissioners and] impanel grand juries in each county. The judge
of the 33rd District Court may alternate the drawing of grand juries
with the judge of any other district court in each county within the
33rd Judicial District and may order grand and petit juries to be
drawn for any term of the court as the judge determines is
necessary, by an order entered in the minutes of the court.
Indictments within each county may be returned to either court
within that county.
SECTION 12. Section 24.377(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The judge of the 198th District Court may [select jury
commissioners and] impanel grand juries in each county. The judge
of the 198th District Court may alternate the drawing of grand
juries with the judge of any other district court in each county
within the judge's district and may order grand and petit juries to
be drawn for any term of the judge's court as in the judge's judgment
is necessary, by an order entered in the minutes of the court.
Indictments within each county may be returned to either court
within that county.
SECTION 13. Section 24.396(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The judge of the 218th District Court may [select grand
jury commissioners and] impanel grand juries in each county in the
district but is not required to impanel a grand jury in any county
except when the judge [he] considers it necessary. The judge may
alternate the impaneling of grand juries in each county with the
judge of any other district court in that county, or the judges may
by agreement determine which one of the courts will impanel the
grand juries. Indictments within each county may be returned to any
district court within that county. All grand and petit juries drawn
for one district court in each county are interchangeable with any
other district court in that county as if the jury had been drawn
for the court in which it is used.
SECTION 14. Section 24.487(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The judge of the 341st District Court may [select jury
commissioners and] impanel grand juries in Webb County. The judge
of the 341st District Court may alternate the drawing of grand
juries with the judge of any other district court in the county. By
order entered on the minutes, for any term that the judge considers
it necessary, the judge may order grand and petit juries to be
drawn.
SECTION 15. Section 24.568(d), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(d) The judge of the 424th District Court may [select jury
commissioners and] impanel grand juries in each county. The judge
of the 424th District Court may alternate the drawing of grand
juries with the judge of any other district court in each county
within the 424th Judicial District and may order grand and petit
juries to be drawn for any term of the court as the judge determines
is necessary, by an order entered in the minutes of the court.
Indictments within each county may be returned to either court
within that county.
SECTION 16. Section 24.596(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The judge of the 452nd District Court may [select jury
commissioners and] impanel grand juries in each county. The judge
of the 452nd District Court may order grand and petit juries to be
drawn for any term of the judge's court as in the judge's judgment is
necessary, by an order entered in the minutes of the court.
SECTION 17. The heading to Section 402.024, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 402.024. DEFENSE OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY[, GRAND JURY
COMMISSIONER,] OR GRAND JUROR.
SECTION 18. Section 402.024(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The attorney general shall defend a state [grand jury
commissioner or] grand juror who is a defendant in an action in any
court if:
(1) the suit involves an act of the person while in the
performance of duties as a [grand jury commissioner or] grand
juror; and
(2) the person requests the attorney general's
assistance in the defense.
SECTION 19. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Articles 19.02, 19.03, 19.04, 19.05, 19.06, 19.09,
19.10, 19.11, 19.12, 19.13, 19.14, 19.15, and 19.17, Code of
Criminal Procedure; and
(2) Section 24.014(c), Government Code.
SECTION 20. The changes in law made by this Act do not apply
to a county with a population of 500,000 or less.
SECTION 21. Section 402.024(b), Government Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to a court action arising from an act of a
person that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. A
court action arising from an act of a person that occurred before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the act occurred, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 22. The changes in law made by this Act apply to a
grand jury impaneled on or after the effective date of this Act. A
grand jury impaneled before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the grand jury was
impaneled, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 23. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.