Bill Text: TX HB103 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the appointment of a retired or former judge as a visiting judge in certain counties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-09 - Effective on 9/1/23 [HB103 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB103-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to the appointment of a retired or former judge as a visiting judge in certain counties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-06-09 - Effective on 9/1/23 [HB103 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB103-Introduced.html
By: Murr | H.B. No. 103 |
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relating to qualifications for a retired judge's appointment as a | ||
visiting judge to a constitutional county court. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 26, Government Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 26.023. APPOINTMENT FOR ABSENCE OF JUDGE. (a) The | ||
county judge may appoint a retired judge or a constitutional county | ||
judge from another county as a visiting judge when the county judge | ||
is absent from the county or absent because of physical incapacity. | ||
(b) The visiting judge shall sit in all matters that are | ||
docketed on any of the county court's dockets and has the powers of | ||
the county judge in relation to the matter involved. | ||
(c) Without the consent of the commissioners court, | ||
visiting judges appointed under this section may not sit for more | ||
than 15 working days during a calendar year. | ||
(d) The order appointing the visiting judge shall be noted | ||
in the docket of the court. | ||
(e) For the purposes of this Chapter, a "retired judge" is | ||
defined as a person who meets the requirements of Government Code | ||
Subsection 74.041(6). | ||
SECTION 2. SUBCHAPTER C, Chapter 74, ADMINISTRATIVE | ||
JUDICIAL REGIONS is amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 74.041. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
(1) "Administrative region" means an administrative | ||
judicial region created by Section 74.042. | ||
(2) "Presiding judge" means the presiding judge of an | ||
administrative region. | ||
(3) "Retiree" means a person who has retired under the | ||
Judicial Retirement System of Texas, the Judicial Retirement System | ||
of Texas Plan One, or the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan | ||
Two. | ||
(4) "Active judge" means a person who is a current judicial | ||
officeholder. | ||
(5) "Former judge" means a person who has served as an | ||
active judge in a district, statutory probate, statutory county, or | ||
appellate court, but who is not a retired judge. | ||
(6) "Retired judge" means: | ||
(A) a retiree; or | ||
(B) a person who served as an active judge for at least 96 | ||
months in a statutory probate and has retired under the Texas County | ||
and District Retirement System; or | ||
(C) A person who served as an active judge for at least 96 | ||
months in a constitutional county court or who served at least 48 | ||
months in a constitutional county court and who is a licensed | ||
attorney in the state. | ||
(7) "Senior judge" means a retiree who has elected to be a | ||
judicial officer under Section 75.001. | ||
SECTION 3. SUBCHAPTER C, Chapter 74, ADMINISTRATIVE | ||
JUDICIAL REGIONS is amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 74.055. LIST OF RETIRED AND FORMER JUDGES SUBJECT TO | ||
ASSIGNMENT. (a) Each presiding judge shall maintain a list of | ||
retired and former judges who meet the requirements of this | ||
section. | ||
(b) The presiding judge shall divide the list into area | ||
specialties of criminal, civil, or domestic relations cases. A | ||
retired or former judge may only be assigned to a case in the | ||
judge's area of specialty. A judge may qualify for assignment in | ||
more than one area of specialty. | ||
(c) To be eligible to be named on the list, a retired or | ||
former judge must: | ||
(1A) have served as an active judge for at least 96 months in | ||
a district, statutory probate, statutory county, or appellate | ||
court; or | ||
(1B) have served as an active judge for at least 96 months in | ||
a constitutional county court, or have served as an active judge for | ||
at least 48 months in a constitutional county court and who is a | ||
licensed attorney in the state. | ||
(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; and | ||
(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. | ||
(d) Repealed by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 315, Sec. 15. | ||
(e) For purposes of Subsection (c)(1), a month of service is | ||
calculated as a calendar month or a portion of a calendar month in | ||
which a judge was authorized by election or appointment to preside. | ||
(f) A former or retired judge is ineligible to be named on | ||
the list if the former or retired judge is identified in a public | ||
statement issued by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct as | ||
having resigned or retired from office in lieu of discipline. | ||
(g) A former or retired judge named on the list shall | ||
immediately notify the presiding judge of a full investigation by | ||
the State Commission on Judicial Conduct into an allegation or | ||
appearance of misconduct or disability by the judge. A judge who | ||
does not notify the presiding judge of an investigation as required | ||
by this subsection is ineligible to remain on the list. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |