Bill Text: TX HB1939 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the creation of a county court at law in Chambers County.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-05 - Referred to Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence [HB1939 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB1939-Introduced.html
| 86R8987 TSS-F | ||
| By: Middleton | H.B. No. 1939 | |
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| relating to the creation of a county court at law in Chambers | ||
| County. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Government Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Sections 25.0381 and 25.0382 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 25.0381. CHAMBERS COUNTY. Chambers County has one | ||
| statutory county court, the County Court at Law of Chambers County. | ||
| Sec. 25.0382. CHAMBERS COUNTY COURT AT LAW PROVISIONS. (a) | ||
| In addition to the jurisdiction provided by Section 25.0003 and | ||
| other law, a county court at law in Chambers County has the | ||
| jurisdiction provided by the constitution and by general law for | ||
| district courts, including concurrent jurisdiction in: | ||
| (1) arraignments, pleas, and pretrial motions for | ||
| felony cases; | ||
| (2) trials for felony cases transferred from a | ||
| district court in Chambers County to the county court at law; and | ||
| (3) family law cases and proceedings. | ||
| (b) In matters of concurrent jurisdiction, a judge of a | ||
| county court at law and a judge of a district court in Chambers | ||
| County may transfer cases between the courts in the same manner that | ||
| judges of district courts may transfer cases under Section 24.003. | ||
| (c) The judge of a county court at law shall be paid an | ||
| annual salary that is at least equal to the amount that is $1,000 | ||
| less than the total annual salary, including supplements, received | ||
| by a district judge in the county. The salary shall be paid out of | ||
| the county treasury on order of the commissioners court. | ||
| (d) The judge of a county court at law is entitled to travel | ||
| expenses and necessary office expenses, including administrative | ||
| and clerical help, in the same manner as a district judge in the | ||
| county. | ||
| (e) The district clerk serves as clerk of a county court at | ||
| law for family cases and proceedings, and the county clerk serves as | ||
| clerk for all other cases. The commissioners court may employ as | ||
| many deputy sheriffs and bailiffs as are necessary to serve the | ||
| court. | ||
| (f) If a case or proceeding in which a county court at law | ||
| has concurrent jurisdiction with a district court is tried before a | ||
| jury, the jury shall be composed of 12 members. In all other cases, | ||
| the jury shall be composed of six members. | ||
| (g) The judge of a county court at law may, instead of | ||
| appointing an official court reporter, contract for the services of | ||
| a court reporter under guidelines established by the commissioners | ||
| court. | ||
| (h) The laws governing the drawing, selection, service, and | ||
| pay of jurors for county courts apply to a county court at law. | ||
| Jurors regularly impaneled for a week by the district court may, on | ||
| a request of a judge of the county court at law, be made available | ||
| and shall serve for the week in a county court at law. | ||
| (i) A county court at law has the same terms of court as a | ||
| district court in Chambers County. | ||
| SECTION 2. Notwithstanding Section 25.0381, Government | ||
| Code, as added by this Act, the County Court at Law of Chambers | ||
| County is created on January 1, 2021, or an earlier date determined | ||
| by the Commissioners Court of Chambers County by an order entered in | ||
| its minutes. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
