Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB4548 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R14625 CAE-F
2	2	By: Raymond H.B. No. 4548
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to recusal of a justice of the supreme court or judge of
8	8	the court of criminal appeals based on political contributions
9	9	accepted by the justice or judge from a person involved in a case
10	10	before the justice or judge.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 22, Government Code, is
13	13	amended by adding Section 22.305 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 22.305. RECUSAL OF JUSTICE OR JUDGE BECAUSE OF
15	15	ACCEPTANCE OF POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. (a) A justice of the
16	16	supreme court or judge of the court of criminal appeals shall recuse
17	17	himself or herself from any case in which the justice or judge has
18	18	in the preceding four years accepted political contributions, as
19	19	defined by Section 251.001, Election Code, in a total amount of
20	20	$1,000 or more from:
21	21	(1) a party to the case;
22	22	(2) an attorney of record in the case;
23	23	(3) the law firm of an attorney of record in the case;
24	24	(4) the managing agent of a party to the case;
25	25	(5) a member of the board of directors of a party to
26	26	the case; or
27	27	(6) a general-purpose committee, as defined by Section
28	28	251.001, Election Code, that is established or administered by a
29	29	person who is a party to the case.
30	30	(b) For purposes of this section, a political contribution
31	31	made by a person to a general-purpose committee that makes a
32	32	political contribution to a justice or judge is considered to be a
33	33	political contribution made directly by the person to the justice
34	34	or judge. The total amount of political contributions considered
35	35	under this subsection to have been made directly from the person to
36	36	the justice or judge during the period specified by Subsection (a)
37	37	is equal to the lesser of:
38	38	(1) the total amount of political contributions the
39	39	person made to the general-purpose committee during that period; or
40	40	(2) the total amount of political contributions the
41	41	general-purpose committee made to the justice or judge during that
42	42	period.
43	43	(c) A party filing any motion, brief, or pleading before the
44	44	supreme court or court of criminal appeals must disclose in writing
45	45	to the court each political contribution made in the four years
46	46	preceding the date the motion, brief, or pleading is filed to a
47	47	justice or judge of that court by:
48	48	(1) the party;
49	49	(2) a person affiliated with the party as described by
50	50	Subsection (a)(2), (3), (4), (5), or (6); or
51	51	(3) a general-purpose committee to whom the party or a
52	52	person affiliated with the party has made a political contribution
53	53	during that period.
54	54	SECTION 2. Section 22.305, Government Code, as added by
55	55	this Act, applies only to a political contribution accepted on or
56	56	after the effective date of this Act. A political contribution
57	57	accepted before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
58	58	law in effect on the date the contribution is accepted, and the
59	59	former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
60	60	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
61	61	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
62	62	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
63	63	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
64	64	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.