OFFICE OF THE AITORNEY GENERAL OF -
AUSTIN
Honorable Earnest Guinn
County Attorney
31 Faso County
El Woo, Texas
Dear Sir:
Opinion No: O-3530
I;0: R%ere a,defendant Is charged
uith speeding in one pSeainCt
and the ~88% Is idled in another
preoinct may the deSenbant upon
motion have the gaae trleb,ln
the preeinatwhere the ofW~#e
oaaumd upon a motlen:belngduly
SllO6?
Pour request-foran opinion from this Department
has been reoelved and considered. We quote from your requeat:
la ahargsd .wlt.h speeding,
?YPbare ,D8fen&aat if the
Offbn86 dccurred ltiFrealnct ;ne, but the oae.0be riled
in Prealnct 2 may Defenaant~uponmotion have the oaw
tried in Rreoinot One before the ifurtiae of Preainog me?.
1n the event the answer to the foregoing queetlon 1s
"'pes",
,~~
how and when ought the motion to ~bumde?”
Artlalo 8f3Sot.the Code of Crlmlnal Pro~edWe, 19ES,
provide8 the.ronn of a o~plaint In a juetlae aourt, ae followe:
Ysuoh complaint,ahallstate:
I, The name of the aaou6od, If known and, if unknown,
ehall deearlbe him ae aoourately a8 preotiaable.
8. The orfenee dth which he 18 ahaX?ged,in plain
and ~ntelllglblewdrdr.
8. That the offstie wa8 aOmm%tt6d in the aoULty in
whiah the uomplalnt le m.sdo.~~.
4. It muet show, rr0pr thr :dateof the orrenee,,etated
therein, that the ottenee is not barred by limitation.*
Honorable Bn4st Ouinn, page 2
fn the aourao 0r our exa@nation, w4 have~~been
unable to find where the Legielaturshas authorized the
transfer of a caee, like the one referred to in your request,
from one juetioe greolnct to another.
Provision has been made to transfer cases, in many
lnatanoee in both the county ~ourte, county courts at law,
and the d&riot courts. We quote from 12 Texas Jurisprudence
at page 427:
"For sxample, prorislon has been made for the
transfer of caxse8 where there are two Criminal District
Courts or two County Courtp at Law in the same county,
and for transfers between Distrlot Courts in different
districts. Other statutes prescribe the prooeaurefor
thb_tranefor of aau8ea between partioular~Crimlna1Dis-,
trtat Courts and Dlstriat Courtr, Criminal Dirtriat Courts
and Oouaty Courta, Dletrlot Court0 and Oounty Oourtr,
County Court8 and County Courte at Law, County Courts at
Law and County Criminal Courta, and from County Courts to
Distrlot.Courts.
w5tlll other etetutes provide for the transfer.of
oausellto Criminal Dietrlat Courts :fromDlstriot Court.8
upon the dlvsetlturs~of the criminal jurimalotlon of such
Dietriot Courts, and to Criminal Diatriat.Courts when
County Courtr have been tlaprlved'orjuriadlotion,or when
a Criminal Diatriceourt haa be4n dispoaaessedof lte
arlmlnal jurledlationwhioh hae been vested b a Dfetriat
Court or a County Court."
wo do not believe the holding In the aaae of Rx
Parts Von Koennsrite, 105 Tex. Grim. R. 13,5,Z88 8.W. 987,
is authority for the proposition that a defendant may have
his case transferred upon proper motion being filed.
~.
In 22 Corpw Jurla, 8eousldum, page 24S, the
r0110wlng
rule ir givan:
*In.tho abeenoe of an apzlicable etatuto the tranefer
'bf a oaee from one oourt of aompetant juriedlatlonto another
having conourrent jurlsdlotlon thereof is nelthor eomp4llable,
nor allowable, dlrsctly or indlreotly. Wlthln constltutlonal
limits, however, the legislature of a atnte may provide by
statute for the transfer of criminal caa688 from one oourt
.- i s,-:-
‘...
Honorable Ernest Gulnn, page 3
to another, and valid statute8 oxlet in many states
under whloh oourta are authorized to transiar auoh
cauma lnetitutedbefore them to other ~ourtet.~
For all of the rearoas diouassd, we are of the
opinlon and you are so advised, that your first question
should be answered In the negative. For that reason it is
not neoeasary to answer your other question.
Very truiy ymrs
Ey s/ IIaroldMcCracken
Assistant
FIRSTASS8TMlT AlWl'tOVBD:'
OPINION COMMITTEE
ATTW milUWu
By EWB chairman