Fact scenario 1: Officer initiates felony pursuit of offender inside Ellis county (where officer's authority is not disputed) and chases the offender into Dallas county. At a minimum, the defendant has committed felony evading. And authority to arrest is not an issue. Venue for that evading prosecution is proper in Ellis county, where the evading offense was initiated. No problem. But CCP Art. 14.03(d) requires the arresting officer to notify local law enforcement agency of the arrest, and the local agency is required to take custody of the offender. Case law says that this notice requirement is administrative in nature, and it has no application to the exclusionary rule. So evidentiary issues should not be an issue where this statue comes into play. What, then, is the consequence for failure to follow 14.03(d)? I can't find one. But I don't want to tell my officers to ignore the law. These facts are occurring with greater frequency, and I'm trying to give my local officers the best advice on how to proceed.

Fact scenario 2: Officer observes traffic violation in Ellis county. Traffic stop occurs more than 400 yards into Dallas county. That traffic stop escalates into a higher offense - anything from DWLI to felony drug possession. The same notification question applies as in fact scenario 1, plus another question: Is proper venue for the higher offense Ellis county or Dallas county? I believe that proper venue is Dallas, because offense wasn't discovered until offender reached Dallas. (DWI is a separate issue, and I believe venue can be OK in Ellis county for that offense.)

[This message was edited by PW on 08-13-08 at .]

Hey, PW!

Regarding your second question, I think venue would be proper in either county for most offenses (DWLI, D is driving in both counties and his license didn't magically get suspended as he crossed the line [ODL violations excepted]; drugs, D is possessing the drugs in both counties, unless he picks them up during the evading as he crosses the Dallas County line, etc.). However, things like resisting arrest or evading that occurs strictly in Dallas, of course, would be properly brought in Dallas County. And just because both counties could have venue doesn't mean it's not more advantageous to file in one county over another (for purposes of getting witnesses to court, etc.)

I couldn't even begin to guess an answer to your first question without researching it.

I would think that since violations of 14.03(d) are administrative in nature, then administratives sanctions would be in order. Something the department handles internally, in other words, although I'm not sure what the exact punishment would be. I would give the officers the same warnings as to prosecutors who light up when they hear something is harmless error -- harmless error is still error, and the more we repeat it, the more likely the courts or the legislature are to rethink things and decide it's harmful after all. So don't push it.