Could a Texas municipal or justice court require a resident driver to post an appearance bond just to plead not guilty and obtain a speeding trial?

Texas AG Opinion JM-701: Appearance Bonds for Speeding Trials

Plain-English summary

The Montgomery County Attorney asked whether a magistrate could require an appearance bond before giving a driver a trial on a speeding citation.

The described practice applied to a Texas resident driving a Texas-licensed vehicle who signed the citation's written promise to appear. A municipal-court instruction sheet said a driver pleading not guilty had to post a bond for twice the amount of the fine.

The Attorney General concluded that the bond could not be required solely because the driver pleaded not guilty and requested a trial. Section 148 of article 6701d required an officer to issue a written notice to appear for speeding when the Texas resident, driving a Texas-licensed vehicle, signed the written promise.

Although criminal-procedure statutes gave courts broad discretion to set bail, that discretion did not override the Legislature's mandatory notice-to-appear procedure. The not-guilty plea alone therefore could not be used to add an appearance-bond condition.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1987. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Who fit the fact pattern addressed by the opinion?

A Texas resident operating a Texas-licensed vehicle, cited for speeding, who provided the required information and signed a written promise to appear.

What did the municipal-court instruction require?

It said a driver entering a not-guilty plea had to make an appearance bond for double the fine and return the bond with a trial request.

Why was the notice to appear mandatory?

Section 148 made it mandatory for speeding when the arrested person signed the promise to appear and was not a nonresident or driving an out-of-state vehicle.

Did courts have general authority to set bail?

Yes. The opinion acknowledged broad discretion under Code of Criminal Procedure articles 17.01 and 17.15, but said that authority did not extend to defeating the mandatory citation procedure in this situation.

Could the court require a bond for some other lawful reason?

The opinion answered only whether the bond could be required solely because the driver announced a not-guilty plea and wanted a trial. It did not decide other circumstances.

Background and statutory framework

Section 148 of article 6701d governed written notices to appear for traffic misdemeanors. For speeding, it made the citation procedure mandatory when a qualifying driver signed the written promise. The specified court date had to be at least ten days after arrest unless the person demanded an earlier hearing.

The statute treated nonresidents and out-of-state vehicles differently, subject to the Nonresident Violator Compact. Those exceptions did not apply to the Texas resident in the request.

The opinion relied on Taylor v. State for the mandatory nature of the written notice under the stated conditions. It also followed Attorney General Opinion JM-363, which discussed broad bail discretion but did not allow that discretion to displace a specific legislative command.

Citations and references

Statutory authorities:

• Article 6701d, section 148, V.T.C.S. (traffic notice to appear)
• Article 6701d-23, V.T.C.S. (Nonresident Violator Compact of 1977)
• Code of Criminal Procedure articles 17.01 and 17.15 (bail)

Case:

• Taylor v. State, 421 S.W.2d 403 (Tex. Crim. App. 1967), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 916 (1968)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-0701
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1987/jm0701.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

May 18, 1987

Honorable D. C. Jim Dozier
Montgomery County Attorney
Courthouse
Conroe, Texas 77301

Opinion No. JM-701

Re: Whether a magistrate may require as a precondition for obtaining a trial, the posting of an appearance bond in minor traffic offense cases under article 6701d, V.T.C.S.

Dear Mr. Dozier:

You ask:

May a magistrate require an appearance bond to be posted in a case involving the alleged violation of a speeding law (under article 6701d, V.T.C.S.) as a precondition for obtaining a trial?

The information you have furnished reflects that the question you have asked has arisen in several of the municipal and justice courts of Montgomery County under the following scenario.

'A,' a motorist, a resident of the state of Texas who is operating a vehicle licensed in the State of Texas, is stopped for speeding and issued a citation. At the time of the stop, 'A' provides the information required by article 6701d, section 148 and signs a written promise to appear in court which appears on the citation. Feeling that he is not guilty of the offense with which he is charged, 'A' asks the arresting officer how he can obtain a trial. In response to his request, the officer hands 'A' an information sheet on the letterhead of the municipal court for the appropriate jurisdiction. In addition to other information provided, the sheet contains the following:

If you wish to enter a plea of Not Guilty and desire a trial, you must so indicate in the proper space below. If you enter a plea of Not Guilty, you must make an appearance bond for double the amount of your fine. Return the bond and a letter stating that you wish to contest the citation, if you wish to have a jury trial or not. . . .

Section 148 of article 6701d, V.T.C.S., provides:

(a) Whenever a person is arrested for any violation of this Act punishable as a misdemeanor, and such person is not immediately taken before a magistrate as hereinbefore required, the arresting officer shall prepare in duplicate written notice to appear in court containing the name and address of such person, the license number of his vehicle, if any, the offense charged, and the time and place when and where such person shall appear in court. Provided, however, that the offense of speeding shall be the only offense making mandatory the issuance of a written notice to appear in court, and only then if the arrested person gives his written promise to appear in court, by signing in duplicate the written notice prepared by the arresting officer; and provided further, that it shall not be mandatory for an officer to give a written notice to appear in court to any person arrested for the offense of speeding when such person is operating a vehicle licensed in a state or country other than the State of Texas or who is a resident of a state or country other than the State of Texas, except as provided by the Nonresident Violator Compact of 1977 [article 6701d-23].

(b) The time specified in said notice to appear must be at least ten (10) days after such arrest unless the person arrested shall demand an earlier hearing.

The provisions of section 148 make it mandatory upon the officer to issue a notice to appear in court, where (1) the offense is speeding; (2) the arrested person gives his written promise to appear in court; and (3) the person arrested is not operating a vehicle licensed in a state or country other than the State of Texas. Taylor v. State, 421 S.W.2d 403 (Tex. Crim. App. 1967); cert. denied, 393 U.S. 916 (1968). Under the scenario you have provided, the sole basis for the requirement of an appearance bond is the election of the accused to enter a plea of not guilty.

As was emphasized in Attorney General Opinion JM-363 (1985), articles 17.01 and 17.15 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure confer upon a court broad discretion in setting bail; however, it is our opinion that such discretion does not extend to an instance where the legislature mandates the issuance of a notice to appear in court.

SUMMARY

Where the accused meets the conditions set forth in section 148, article 6701d, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, for mandating a notice to appear in court to answer a charge for the offense of speeding, an appearance bond may not be required, solely because the accused makes it known to the arresting officer that he desires to enter a plea of not guilty.

JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas

JACK HIGHTOWER
First Assistant Attorney General

MARY KELLER
Executive Assistant Attorney General

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY
Special Assistant Attorney General

RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee

Prepared by Tom G. Davis
Assistant Attorney General