By: Hartnett, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth) H.B. No. 764
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 22, 2009;
May 12, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on
Administration; May 21, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0;
May 21, 2009, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 764 By: Wentworth
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eligibility for assignment as a visiting judge.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (t), Section 25.0022, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(t) To be eligible for assignment under this section, a
former or retired judge of a statutory probate court must:
(1) not have been removed from office; [and]
(2) 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 [having
received notice that formal proceedings by the State Commission on
Judicial Conduct had been instituted] 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;
(3) annually demonstrate that the judge has completed
in the past state fiscal year the educational requirements for an
active statutory probate court judge;
(4) have served as an active judge for at least 96
months in a district, statutory probate, statutory county, or
appellate court; and
(5) have developed substantial experience in the
judge's area of specialty [the proceedings].
SECTION 2. (a) The change in law made by this Act by
amending Subdivision (2), Subsection (t), Section 25.0022,
Government Code, and by adding Subdivisions (4) and (5), Subsection
(t), Section 25.0022, Government Code, applies only to an
assignment of a visiting judge appointed under Chapter 25,
Government Code, made on or after September 1, 2009. An assignment
made before September 1, 2009, is governed by Subsection (t),
Section 25.0022, Government Code, as it exists on the date of the
assignment, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The change in law made by this Act by amending
Subdivision (2), Subsection (t), Section 25.0022, Government Code,
and by adding Subdivisions (4) and (5), Subsection (t), Section
25.0022, Government Code, does not apply to a person who
immediately before the effective date of this Act meets the
eligibility requirements to be assigned by the presiding judge
under Subsection (h), Section 25.0022, Government Code, and the
former law is continued in effect for determining that person's
eligibility for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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