HB 4184 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to the role of a jury in a criminal case.

HB 4184 clarifies that in Texas criminal cases, juries may consider whether a law is unjust or unjustly applied to a defendant and choose to acquit accordingly. The bill requires courts to allow defendants to inform juries about this right and present evidence related to the law's fairness, the defendant's motives, degree of guilt, and potential punishment. It also prohibits excluding jurors who express willingness to exercise this power. These changes apply only to juries sworn in on or after September 1, 2025.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Mar 31, 2025 Last action Mar 31, 2025
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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
3
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Mar 31, 2025
Committee
Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence
lower
Mar 31, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Wes Virdell
Wes Virdell
RRepublican
TX
53