Bill Text: TX SB1369 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to reports on attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, guardian, mediator, and competency evaluator appointments made by courts in this state and an interim study on a billing system for attorneys ad litem.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2015-06-19 - Effective on 9/1/15 [SB1369 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-SB1369-Enrolled.html
S.B. No. 1369 |
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relating to reports on attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, | ||
guardian, mediator, and competency evaluator appointments made by | ||
courts in this state and an interim study on a billing system for | ||
attorneys ad litem. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 2, Government Code, is amended | ||
by adding Chapter 36 to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 36. JUDICIAL REPORTS | ||
Sec. 36.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
(1) "Competency evaluator" means a physician or | ||
psychologist who is licensed or certified in this state and who | ||
performs examinations to determine whether an individual is | ||
incapacitated or has an intellectual disability for purposes of | ||
appointing a guardian for the individual. The term includes | ||
physicians and psychologists conducting examinations under | ||
Sections 1101.103 and 1101.104, Estates Code. | ||
(2) "Guardian" has the meaning assigned by Section | ||
1002.012, Estates Code. | ||
Sec. 36.002. APPLICABILITY; CONFLICT OF LAW. (a) This | ||
chapter applies to a court in this state created by the Texas | ||
Constitution, by statute, or as authorized by statute. | ||
(b) To the extent of a conflict between this chapter and a | ||
specific provision relating to a court, this chapter controls. | ||
Sec. 36.003. EXEMPTION. The reporting requirements of | ||
Section 36.004 do not apply to: | ||
(1) a mediation conducted by an alternative dispute | ||
resolution system established under Chapter 152, Civil Practice and | ||
Remedies Code; | ||
(2) information made confidential under state or | ||
federal law, including applicable rules; | ||
(3) a guardian ad litem or other person appointed | ||
under a program authorized by Section 107.031, Family Code; or | ||
(4) an attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, amicus | ||
attorney, or mediator appointed under a domestic relations office | ||
established under Chapter 203, Family Code. | ||
Sec. 36.004. REPORT ON APPOINTMENTS. (a) In addition to a | ||
report required by other state law or rule, the clerk of each court | ||
in this state shall prepare a report on court appointments for an | ||
attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, guardian, mediator, or | ||
competency evaluator for a case before the court in the preceding | ||
month. For a court that does not make an appointment in the | ||
preceding month, the clerk of the court must file a report | ||
indicating that no appointment was made by the court in that month. | ||
The report on court appointments must include: | ||
(1) the name of each person appointed by the court as | ||
an attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, guardian, mediator, or | ||
competency evaluator for a case in that month; | ||
(2) the name of the judge and the date of the order | ||
approving compensation to be paid to a person appointed as an | ||
attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, guardian, mediator, or | ||
competency evaluator for a case in that month; | ||
(3) the number and style of each case in which a person | ||
was appointed as an attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, guardian, | ||
mediator, or competency evaluator for that month; | ||
(4) the number of cases each person was appointed by | ||
the court to serve as an attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, | ||
guardian, mediator, or competency evaluator in that month; | ||
(5) the total amount of compensation paid to each | ||
attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, guardian, mediator, or | ||
competency evaluator appointed by the court in that month and the | ||
source of the compensation; and | ||
(6) if the total amount of compensation paid to a | ||
person appointed to serve as an attorney ad litem, guardian ad | ||
litem, guardian, mediator, or competency evaluator for one | ||
appointed case in that month exceeds $1,000, any information | ||
related to the case that is available to the court on the number of | ||
hours billed to the court for the work performed by the person or | ||
the person's employees, including paralegals, and the billed | ||
expenses. | ||
(b) Not later than the 15th day of each month, the clerk of a | ||
court shall: | ||
(1) submit a copy of the report to the Office of Court | ||
Administration of the Texas Judicial System; and | ||
(2) post the report at the courthouse of the county in | ||
which the court is located and on any Internet website of the court. | ||
(c) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial | ||
System shall prescribe the format that courts and the clerks of the | ||
courts must use to report the information required by this section | ||
and shall post the information collected under Subsection (b) on | ||
the office's Internet website. | ||
Sec. 36.005. FAILURE TO REPORT. If a court in this state | ||
fails to provide to the clerk of the court the information required | ||
for the report submitted under Section 36.004, the court is | ||
ineligible for any grant money awarded by this state or a state | ||
agency for the next state fiscal biennium. | ||
Sec. 36.006. TEXAS JUDICIAL COUNCIL RULES. The Texas | ||
Judicial Council shall, as the council considers appropriate, adopt | ||
rules to implement this chapter. | ||
SECTION 2. (a) The Office of Court Administration of the | ||
Texas Judicial System shall conduct a study on the feasibility of | ||
establishing a statewide uniform attorney ad litem billing system | ||
that would allow attorneys appointed by courts in this state to | ||
serve as attorneys ad litem in cases before the courts to enter on a | ||
standardized form information regarding the appointment type and | ||
duration, case information and activities, numbers of hours served | ||
under the appointment, and hourly rate or flat fee paid for the | ||
appointment. | ||
(b) The study conducted under this section shall examine: | ||
(1) the possible benefits to this state and to | ||
counties in this state of establishing a statewide uniform attorney | ||
ad litem billing system; | ||
(2) the number of attorneys in this state providing | ||
legal representation in court-appointed matters; | ||
(3) the number of hours spent in client representation | ||
activities by attorneys serving as attorneys ad litem; | ||
(4) the qualifications of attorneys serving as | ||
attorneys ad litem, including training and specialization; | ||
(5) whether using a standardized billing voucher would | ||
provide uniformity in the types of vouchers attorneys are currently | ||
required to submit to courts for payment; and | ||
(6) the amount of money spent on court-appointed legal | ||
representation by year, court, county, and person served, such as | ||
parent, child, or other. | ||
(c) Not later than December 31, 2016, the Office of Court | ||
Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall submit an | ||
electronic copy of the study conducted under this section to the | ||
governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of | ||
representatives. | ||
(d) This section expires September 1, 2017. | ||
SECTION 3. Chapter 36, Government Code, as added by this | ||
Act, applies beginning with the state fiscal year that begins | ||
September 1, 2016. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1369 passed the Senate on | ||
April 21, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 1; and that | ||
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 30, 2015, by the | ||
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1369 passed the House, with | ||
amendments, on May 27, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 142, | ||
Nays 2, two present not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
Approved: | ||
______________________________ | ||
Date | ||
______________________________ | ||
Governor |