| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the jurisdiction of the Texas Supreme Court and the |
|
|
Court of Criminal Appeals. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Article 4.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Art. 4.01. WHAT COURTS HAVE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION. The |
|
|
following courts have jurisdiction in criminal actions: |
|
|
1. The Court of Criminal Appeals; |
|
|
2. The Texas Supreme Court in a conflict described by |
|
|
Section 22.001(a-1), Government Code; |
|
|
3. Courts of appeals, other than the Court of Appeals |
|
|
for the Fifteenth Court of Appeals District; |
|
|
4. [3.] The district courts; |
|
|
5. [4.] The criminal district courts; |
|
|
6. [5.] The magistrates appointed by the judges of the |
|
|
district courts of Bexar County, Dallas County, Tarrant County, or |
|
|
Travis County that give preference to criminal cases and the |
|
|
magistrates appointed by the judges of the criminal district courts |
|
|
of Dallas County or Tarrant County; |
|
|
7. [6.] The county courts; |
|
|
8. [7.] All county courts at law with criminal |
|
|
jurisdiction; |
|
|
9. [8.] County criminal courts; |
|
|
10. [9.] Justice courts; |
|
|
11. [10.] Municipal courts; |
|
|
12. [11.] The magistrates appointed by the judges of |
|
|
the district courts of Lubbock County; |
|
|
13. [12.] The magistrates appointed by the El Paso |
|
|
Council of Judges; |
|
|
14. [13.] The magistrates appointed by the Collin |
|
|
County Commissioners Court; |
|
|
15. [14.] The magistrates appointed by the Brazoria |
|
|
County Commissioners Court or the local administrative judge for |
|
|
Brazoria County; |
|
|
16. [15.] The magistrates appointed by the judges of |
|
|
the district courts of Tom Green County; |
|
|
17. [16.] The magistrates appointed by the judges of |
|
|
the district and statutory county courts of Denton County; and |
|
|
18. [17.] The magistrates appointed by the judges of |
|
|
the district and statutory county courts of Grayson County. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Article 4.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Art. 4.04. COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS |
|
|
Sec. 1. The Court of Criminal Appeals and each judge thereof |
|
|
shall have, and is hereby given, the power and authority to grant |
|
|
and issue and cause the issuance of writs of habeas corpus, and, in |
|
|
criminal law matters, other writs, including the writs of mandamus, |
|
|
procedendo, prohibition, and certiorari, [. The court and each |
|
|
judge thereof shall have, and is hereby given, the power and |
|
|
authority to grant and issue and cause the issuance of such other |
|
|
writs] as may be necessary to protect its jurisdiction or enforce |
|
|
its judgments. |
|
|
Sec. 2. Except as provided by Section 22.001(a-1), |
|
|
Government Code, the [The] Court of Criminal Appeals shall have, |
|
|
and is hereby given, final appellate and review jurisdiction in |
|
|
criminal cases coextensive with the limits of the state, and its |
|
|
determinations shall be final. The appeal of all cases in which the |
|
|
death penalty has been assessed shall be to the Court of Criminal |
|
|
Appeals. In addition, the Court of Criminal Appeals may [,] on [its |
|
|
own motion, with or without] a petition for such discretionary |
|
|
review being filed by one of the parties, review any decision of a |
|
|
court of appeals in a criminal case other than a conflict described |
|
|
by Section 22.001(a-1), Government Code. Discretionary review by |
|
|
the Court of Criminal Appeals is not a matter of right, but of sound |
|
|
judicial discretion. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 22.001, Government Code, is amended by |
|
|
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (a-1) to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(a) The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction, except in |
|
|
criminal law matters other than a conflict described by Subsection |
|
|
(a-1), of an appealable order or judgment of the trial courts if the |
|
|
court determines that the appeal presents a question of law that is |
|
|
important to the jurisprudence of the state. |
|
|
(a-1) The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction to |
|
|
finally resolve a conflict between the supreme court and the court |
|
|
of criminal appeals regarding the interpretation of a provision of |
|
|
the Texas Constitution on: |
|
|
(1) submission of a writ of certiorari to the supreme |
|
|
court by a party to any proceeding in any court of this state; or |
|
|
(2) certification of a question of law from any |
|
|
federal court [The supreme court's jurisdiction does not include |
|
|
cases in which the jurisdiction of the court of appeals is made |
|
|
final by statute]. |
|
|
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), a [A] case over |
|
|
which the court has jurisdiction under Subsection (a) may be |
|
|
carried to the supreme court by petition for review. |
|
|
SECTION 4. It is the intent of the legislature that: |
|
|
(1) the jurisdiction of the Texas Supreme Court as |
|
|
amended by this Act is "as otherwise provided . . . by law" within |
|
|
the meaning of Section 3(a), Article V, Texas Constitution; and |
|
|
(2) the jurisdiction of the Court of Criminal Appeals |
|
|
as amended by this Act is "with such exceptions and under such |
|
|
regulations . . . as prescribed by law" within the meaning of |
|
|
Section 5(a), Article V, Texas Constitution. |
|
|
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply to any |
|
|
matter described by Section 22.001(a-1), Government Code, as added |
|
|
by this Act, pending before any court of this state on or after the |
|
|
effective date of this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |