SB 3073 Texas Senate · 89th Legislature (2025)

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

282
Passed
Total votes 30
May 14, 2025
D Democratic10
8 Yea 2 Nay
80% Yea
R Republican20
20 Yea
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
Photo of Joan Huffman
Joan Huffman
RRepublican
TX
17
P
Photo of John Smithee
John Smithee
RRepublican
TX
86
Co
Photo of A.J. Louderback
A.J. Louderback
RRepublican
TX
30
Co
Photo of Alan Schoolcraft
Alan Schoolcraft
RRepublican
TX
44
Co
Photo of Andy Hopper
Andy Hopper
RRepublican
TX
64
Co
Photo of Angelia Orr
Angelia Orr
RRepublican
TX
13
Co
Photo of Ben Bumgarner
Ben Bumgarner
RRepublican
TX
63
Co
Photo of Brad Buckley
Brad Buckley
RRepublican
TX
54
Co
Photo of Brent Money
Brent Money
RRepublican
TX
2
Co
Photo of Brian Birdwell
Brian Birdwell
RRepublican
TX
22
Co
Photo of Briscoe Cain
Briscoe Cain
RRepublican
TX
128
Co
Photo of Caroline Harris Davila
Caroline Harris Davila
RRepublican
TX
52