88(R) SB 1516 - Enrolled version - Bill Text

	S.B.  No.  1516

	AN ACT
	relating to the procedures for an application for a writ of habeas
	corpus and the issuance of the writ.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION  1.    Article 11.05, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Art.  11.05.    BY WHOM WRIT MAY BE ISSUED [GRANTED]. The court
	[Court] of criminal appeals [Criminal Appeals], the district courts
	[District Courts], the county courts [County Courts], or any judge
	[Judge] of those courts may [said Courts, have power to] issue the
	writ of habeas corpus,[;] and it is their duty, on [upon] proper
	application [motion], to issue [grant] the writ under the rules
	prescribed by law.
	SECTION  2.    Article 11.051, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Art.  11.051.    FILING FEE PROHIBITED. Notwithstanding any
	other law, a clerk of a court may not require a filing fee from an
	individual who files an application [or petition] for a writ of
	habeas corpus.
	SECTION  3.    Article 11.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Art.  11.06.    WHERE WRIT IS RETURNABLE IN CASES NOT INVOLVING
	FELONY CONVICTION [TO ANY COUNTY].  (a) If the applicant has not
	been formally charged by [Before] indictment or information
	[found], the writ must [may] be made returnable to the [any] county
	in which:
	(1)    the applicant is confined to the custody of the
	sheriff or other authority;
	(2)    the applicant is alleged, by any means including
	the issuance of a warrant for the applicant's arrest or the
	applicant's arrest pursuant to Chapter 14, to have committed a
	criminal offense that provides the basis for the restraint from
	which the application seeks relief; or
	(3)    if neither Subdivision (1) nor (2) applies, the
	action imposing a restraint on the applicant's liberty occurred.
	(b)    After the applicant has been charged by indictment or
	information, and before any conviction of the applicant, the writ
	must be made returnable to the county in which the indictment or
	information is pending.
	(c)    After final conviction in any misdemeanor case, the writ
	must be made returnable to the county in which the applicant was
	convicted [State].
	SECTION  4.    Article 11.08, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Art.  11.08.    APPLICANT ACCUSED OF [CHARGED WITH] FELONY. If
	the applicant is accused of committing a [person is confined after
	indictment on a charge of] felony offense, whether by indictment,
	information, warrant, arrest, or other means, and has not been
	convicted of the offense, the applicant or petitioner[, he] may
	apply:
	(1)    to the judge of the court in which the indictment
	or information charging the applicant [he] is pending [indicted];
	or
	(2)    if an indictment or information charging the
	applicant has not been filed or the [if there be no] judge of the
	court in which the indictment or information is pending is not
	available:
	(A)    [within the district, then] to any [the]
	judge with felony jurisdiction in a [of any district whose
	residence is nearest to the court house of the] county to [in] which
	the writ is returnable; or
	(B)    if there is no judge with felony jurisdiction
	available in a county described by Paragraph (A), to any judge with
	felony jurisdiction who presides over a court in any county that
	adjoins a county described by Paragraph (A) [applicant is held in
	custody].
	SECTION  5.    Article 11.09, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Art.  11.09.    APPLICANT ACCUSED OR CONVICTED OF [CHARGED <