Relating to the duty of a magistrate to make written findings in certain criminal proceedings.
SB 3073 requires magistrates in Texas to provide written findings within 24 hours when determining no probable cause exists for a criminal arrest. This affects individuals arrested for crimes and the magistrates reviewing their cases. The bill mandates that magistrates document their reasons for finding no probable cause in the official record. It applies only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025, with prior cases governed by existing law. The change aims to increase transparency in early criminal proceedings.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
May 2025
Committee Review
May 2025
Senate Passage
May 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced May 13, 2025
Last action May 27, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced
→
Engrossed
·
1 edit
·
May 14, 2025
MINOR
The bill text has been reformatted and cleaned up with proper line breaks and spacing. The substantive legislative content remains unchanged - it still requires magistrates to make written findings within 24 hours when there is no probable cause for an arrest, applies only to offenses committed after the effective date, and takes effect September 1, 2025.
TECHNICAL
Removed formatting artifacts and line number markers from the original draft, improving readability while preserving all substantive legal text.
Floor votes · Senate May 14, 2025
How they voted
28–2
Passed
Total votes 30
May 14, 2025
D
Democratic10
80% Yea
R
Republican20
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
33
Key actions
7
Committee
8
May 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
May 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
May 15, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
lower
May 15, 2025
Committee
Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence
lower
May 15, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
May 14, 2025
Introduced
Received from the Senate
lower
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee report printed and distributed
upper
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendments
upper
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Vote taken in committee
upper
May 13, 2025
Committee
Referred to Criminal Justice
upper
May 13, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
2 primary · 58 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Joan Huffman
RRepublican
P
John Smithee
RRepublican
Co
A.J. Louderback
RRepublican
Co
Alan Schoolcraft
RRepublican
Co
Andy Hopper
RRepublican
Co
Angelia Orr
RRepublican
Co
Ben Bumgarner
RRepublican
Co
Brad Buckley
RRepublican
Co
Brent Money
RRepublican
Co
Brian Birdwell
RRepublican
Co
Briscoe Cain
RRepublican
Co
Caroline Harris Davila
RRepublican
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