Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB4518 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Homer H.B. No. 4518
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to district court cases that may be considered by judges of
7	7	constitutional county courts located within the 76th Judicial
8	8	District and 276th Judicial District.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 24.178, Government Code, is amended by
11	11	adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
12	12	(f)(1) The judges of the 76th judicial district court and a
13	13	constitutional county court located within the 76th judicial
14	14	district may enter into a written agreement for the constitutional
15	15	county court judge to consider guilty pleas in felony cases,
16	16	default judgments, civil and family law cases which are uncontested
17	17	and in which a final judgment will be entered, and civil and family
18	18	law cases in which an agreed final judgment will be entered, all of
19	19	which are within the jurisdiction of the 76th judicial district
20	20	court, provided that:
21	21	(A) the county has no county court at law, the
22	22	constitutional county court retains original misdemeanor
23	23	jurisdiction, and specific statutory authority is granted to the
24	24	constitutional county court judge to consider such cases; and
25	25	(B) the presiding judge of the constitutional
26	26	county court is a lawyer who is licensed to practice law in this
27	27	state and who meets the qualifications for holding the office of
28	28	district judge in this state.
29	29	(2) The written agreement may provide that final
30	30	judgments be approved by the judge of the 76th judicial district
31	31	court.
32	32	(3) When presiding over the cases authorized by this
33	33	section, the constitutional county court judge shall have the same
34	34	judicial immunity as the district judge.
35	35	(4) All pleadings, documents, records, and other
36	36	papers in the cases shall remain under the control of the district
37	37	clerk, and the district clerk may establish a separate docket for
38	38	the cases that will be considered by the constitutional county
39	39	court judge.
40	40	SECTION 2. Section 24.453, Government Code, is amended by
41	41	adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
42	42	(f)(1) The judges of the 276th judicial district court and a
43	43	constitutional county court located within the 276th judicial
44	44	district may enter into a written agreement for the constitutional
45	45	county court judge to consider guilty pleas in felony cases,
46	46	default judgments, civil and family law cases which are uncontested
47	47	and in which a final judgment will be entered, and civil and family
48	48	law cases in which an agreed final judgment will be entered, all of
49	49	which are within the jurisdiction of the 276th judicial district
50	50	court, provided that:
51	51	(A) the county has no county court at law, the
52	52	constitutional county court retains original misdemeanor
53	53	jurisdiction, and specific statutory authority is granted to the
54	54	constitutional county court judge to consider such cases; and
55	55	(B) the presiding judge of the constitutional
56	56	county court is a lawyer who is licensed to practice law in this
57	57	state and who meets the qualifications for holding the office of
58	58	district judge in this state.
59	59	(2) The written agreement may provide that final
60	60	judgments be approved by the judge of the 276th judicial district
61	61	court.
62	62	(3) When presiding over the cases authorized by this
63	63	section, the constitutional county court judge shall have the same
64	64	judicial immunity as the district judge.
65	65	(4) All pleadings, documents, records, and other
66	66	papers in the cases shall remain under the control of the district
67	67	clerk, and the district clerk may establish a separate docket for
68	68	the cases that will be considered by the constitutional county
69	69	court judge.
70	70	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
71	71	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
72	72	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
73	73	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
74	74	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.