84R2855 AJZ-D
 
  By: Dutton H.B. No. 560
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the qualifications for service as a grand juror.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  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 a [grand juror
  or] jury commissioner in the year preceding [before] the date on
  which the term of court for which the person has been selected as a 
  grand juror begins;
               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; and
               9.  The person must not have served as a grand juror
  during the two-year period preceding the date on which the term of
  court for which the person has been selected as a grand juror
  begins.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to qualifications for grand jury service for a person required to
  appear for grand jury service by a summons made on or after
  September 1, 2015. The qualifications of a person required to
  appear for grand jury service before September 1, 2015, are
  governed by the law in effect on the date the summons is made, and
  the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.