Bill Text: TX HB1424 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the appointment of a retired judge or former judge as a visiting judge in certain courts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-01 - Referred to Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence [HB1424 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB1424-Introduced.html
82R7292 CAE-D | ||
By: Garza | H.B. No. 1424 |
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relating to the appointment of a retired judge or former judge as a | ||
visiting judge in certain courts. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 25.0022(t), Government Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(t) To be eligible for assignment under this section, a | ||
former or retired judge of a statutory probate court must: | ||
(1) not have been removed from office; | ||
(2) certify under oath to the presiding judge, on a | ||
form prescribed by the state board of regional judges, that: | ||
(A) the judge has not been publicly reprimanded | ||
or censured by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct; and | ||
(B) the judge: | ||
(i) did not resign or retire from office | ||
after the State Commission on Judicial Conduct notified the judge | ||
of the commencement of a full investigation into an allegation or | ||
appearance of misconduct or disability of the judge as provided in | ||
Section 33.022 and before the final disposition of that | ||
investigation; or | ||
(ii) if the judge did resign from office | ||
under circumstances described by Subparagraph (i), was not publicly | ||
reprimanded or censured as a result of the investigation; | ||
(3) annually demonstrate that the judge has completed | ||
in the past state fiscal year the educational requirements for an | ||
active statutory probate court judge; | ||
(4) have served as an active judge for at least 96 | ||
months in a district, statutory probate, statutory county, or | ||
appellate court; [ |
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(5) have developed substantial experience in the | ||
judge's area of specialty; and | ||
(6) not have been defeated in the last election in | ||
which the judge was a candidate for judge of the court over which | ||
the judge most recently presided. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 74.054, Government Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b), [ |
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(e), the following judges may be assigned as provided by this | ||
chapter by the presiding judge of the administrative region in | ||
which the assigned judge resides: | ||
(1) an active district, constitutional county, or | ||
statutory county court judge in this state; | ||
(2) a senior judge who has consented to be subject to | ||
assignment and who is on the list maintained by the presiding judge | ||
under this chapter; | ||
(3) a former district or appellate judge, retired or | ||
former statutory probate court judge, or retired or former | ||
statutory county court judge who certifies to the presiding judge a | ||
willingness to serve and who is on the list maintained by the | ||
presiding judge as required by this chapter; | ||
(4) a retiree or a former judge whose last judicial | ||
office before retirement was justice or judge of the supreme court, | ||
the court of criminal appeals, or a court of appeals and who has | ||
been assigned by the chief justice to the administrative judicial | ||
region in which the retiree or former judge resides for | ||
reassignment by the presiding judge of that region to a district or | ||
statutory county court in the region; and | ||
(5) an active judge or justice of the supreme court, | ||
the court of criminal appeals, or a court of appeals who has had | ||
trial court experience. | ||
(e) A retired judge or a former judge may not be assigned as | ||
a visiting judge for a court in which the office of judge is filled | ||
by election if the retired or former judge was defeated in the last | ||
election in which the judge was a candidate for justice or judge of | ||
the court over which the retired or former judge most recently | ||
presided. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 74.055(c), Government Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(c) To be eligible to be named on the list, a retired or | ||
former judge must: | ||
(1) have served as an active judge for at least 96 | ||
months in a district, statutory probate, statutory county, or | ||
appellate court; | ||
(2) have developed substantial experience in the | ||
judge's area of specialty; | ||
(3) not have been removed from office; | ||
(4) certify under oath to the presiding judge, on a | ||
form prescribed by the state board of regional judges, that: | ||
(A) the judge has never been publicly reprimanded | ||
or censured by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct; and | ||
(B) the judge: | ||
(i) did not resign or retire from office | ||
after the State Commission on Judicial Conduct notified the judge | ||
of the commencement of a full investigation into an allegation or | ||
appearance of misconduct or disability of the judge as provided in | ||
Section 33.022 and before the final disposition of that | ||
investigation; or | ||
(ii) if the judge did resign from office | ||
under circumstances described by Subparagraph (i), was not publicly | ||
reprimanded or censured as a result of the investigation; | ||
(5) annually demonstrate that the judge has completed | ||
in the past state fiscal year the educational requirements for | ||
active district, statutory probate, and statutory county court | ||
judges; [ |
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(6) certify to the presiding judge a willingness not | ||
to appear and plead as an attorney in any court in this state for a | ||
period of two years; and | ||
(7) not have been defeated in the last election in | ||
which the judge was a candidate for justice or judge of the court | ||
over which the retired or former judge most recently presided as | ||
provided by Section 74.054(e). | ||
SECTION 4. This Act applies only to the appointment of a | ||
visiting judge that occurs on or after the effective date of this | ||
Act. The appointment of a visiting judge before the effective date | ||
of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the visiting judge | ||
was appointed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |