By: West S.B. No. 1471
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the recusal or disqualification of a statutory probate
judge or other judge authorized to hear probate, guardianship, or
mental health matters, and the subsequent assignment of another
judge.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (d) and (h), Section 25.0022,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) The presiding judge shall:
(1) ensure the promulgation of local rules of
administration in accordance with policies and guidelines set by
the supreme court;
(2) advise local statutory probate court judges on
case flow management practices and auxiliary court services;
(3) perform a duty of a local administrative statutory
probate court judge if the local administrative judge does not
perform that duty;
(4) appoint an assistant presiding judge of the
statutory probate courts;
(5) call and preside over annual meetings of the
judges of the statutory probate courts at a time and place in the
state as designated by the presiding judge;
(6) call and convene other meetings of the judges of
the statutory probate courts as considered necessary by the
presiding judge to promote the orderly and efficient administration
of justice in the statutory probate courts;
(7) study available statistics reflecting the
condition of the dockets of the probate courts in the state to
determine the need for the assignment of judges under this section;
(8) compare local rules of court to achieve uniformity
of rules to the extent practical and consistent with local
conditions; and
(9) assign or order the clerk who serves the statutory
probate courts to randomly assign a judge or former or retired judge
of a statutory probate court to hear a case under Section
25.002201(a) or 25.00255, as applicable [the circumstances
described by Section 25.002201(b)].
(h) Subject to Section 25.002201, a judge or a former or
retired judge of a statutory probate court may be assigned by the
presiding judge of the statutory probate courts to hold court in a
statutory probate court, a county court, or any statutory court
exercising probate jurisdiction when:
(1) a statutory probate judge requests assignment of
another judge to the judge's court;
(2) a statutory probate judge is absent, disabled, or
disqualified for any reason;
(3) a statutory probate judge is present or is trying
cases as authorized by the constitution and laws of this state and
the condition of the court's docket makes it necessary to appoint an
additional judge;
(4) the office of a statutory probate judge is vacant;
(5) the presiding judge of an administrative judicial
district requests the assignment of a statutory probate judge to
hear a probate matter in a county court or statutory county court;
(6) the statutory probate [presiding] judge is [of the
administrative judicial district fails to timely assign a judge to
replace a] recused or disqualified [statutory probate court judge]
as described by Section 25.002201(a) [Section 25.002201(b)];
(7) a county court judge requests the assignment of a
statutory probate judge to hear a probate matter in the county
court; or
(8) a local administrative statutory probate court
judge requests the assignment of a statutory probate judge to hear a
matter in a statutory probate court.
SECTION 2. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 25.002201,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), not [Not] later
than the 15th day after the date an order of recusal or
disqualification of a statutory probate court judge is issued in a
case, the presiding judge [of the administrative judicial district]
shall assign a statutory probate court judge or a former or retired
judge of a statutory probate court to hear the case if:
(1) the judge of the statutory probate court recused
himself or herself under Section 25.00255(g)(1)(A);
(2) the judge of the statutory probate court
disqualified himself or herself under Section 25.00255(g-1);
(3) the order was issued under Section
25.00255(i-3)(1); or
(4) the presiding judge [of the administrative
judicial district] receives notice and a request for assignment
from the clerk of the statutory probate court under Section
25.00255(l).
(b) If the [presiding] judge who is the subject of an order
of recusal or disqualification is [of an administrative judicial
district does not assign a judge under Subsection (a) within the
time prescribed by that subsection,] the presiding judge of the
statutory probate courts, the chief justice of the supreme court
shall [may] assign a regional presiding judge, a statutory probate
judge, or a former or retired judge of a statutory probate court to
hear the case [instead of the presiding judge of the administrative
judicial district making the assignment under that subsection].
SECTION 3. Subsections (a), (g), (g-1), (i-2), (i-3),
(i-5), and (l), Section 25.00255, Government Code, are amended to
read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding any conflicting provision in the Texas
Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 18a and 18b, Texas Rules of Civil
Procedure, apply to the recusal and disqualification of a statutory
probate court judge except as otherwise provided by this section or
another provision of this subchapter. The presiding judge:
(1) has the authority and shall perform the functions
and duties of the presiding judge of the administrative judicial
region under the rules, including the duty to hear or rule on a
referred motion of recusal or disqualification or, subject to
Subdivisions (2) and (3) and to Section 25.002201, assign a judge to
hear and rule on a referred motion of recusal or disqualification;
(2) may assign a presiding judge of the administrative
judicial region to hear and rule on a referred motion of recusal or
disqualification only with the consent of the presiding judge of
the administrative judicial region; and
(3) may not assign a judge of a statutory probate court
located in the same county as the statutory probate court served by
the judge who is the subject of the motion of recusal or
disqualification [A party in a hearing or trial in a statutory
probate court may file with the clerk of the court a motion stating
grounds for the recusal or disqualification of the judge. The
grounds may include any disability of the judge to preside over the
case].
(g) A judge who recuses himself or herself:
(1) shall enter an order of recusal and:
(A) if the judge serves a statutory probate court
located in a county with only one statutory probate court, request
that the presiding judge [of the administrative judicial district]
assign a judge under Section 25.002201 to hear the case; or
(B) subject to Subsection (l), if the judge
serves a statutory probate court located in a county with more than
one statutory probate court, request that the presiding judge order
the clerk who serves the statutory probate courts in that county to
randomly reassign the case to a judge of one of the other statutory
probate courts located in the county; and
(2) may not take other action in the case except for
good cause stated in the order in which the action is taken.
(g-1) A judge who disqualifies himself or herself:
(1) shall enter an order of disqualification and:
(A) if the judge serves a statutory probate court
located in a county with only one statutory probate court, request
that the presiding judge [of the administrative judicial district]
assign a judge under Section 25.002201 to hear the case; or
(B) subject to Subsection (l), if the judge
serves a statutory probate court located in a county with more than
one statutory probate court, request that the presiding judge order
the clerk who serves the statutory probate courts in that county to
randomly reassign the case to a judge of one of the other statutory
probate courts; and
(2) may not take other action in the case.
(i-2) A judge who hears a motion for recusal or
disqualification [under Subsection (i) or (i-1)] may also hear any
amended or supplemented motion for recusal or disqualification
filed in the case.
(i-3) If a motion for recusal or disqualification is granted
[after a hearing conducted as provided by Subsection (i) or (i-1)],
the presiding judge [who heard the motion] shall transfer the case
to another court or assign another judge to the case and:
(1) if the judge subject to recusal or
disqualification serves a statutory probate court located in a
county with only one statutory probate court, the presiding judge
or judge assigned to decide the motion shall enter an order of
recusal or disqualification, as appropriate, and request that the
presiding judge [of the administrative judicial district] assign a
judge under Section 25.002201 to hear the case; or
(2) subject to Subsection (l), if the judge subject to
recusal or disqualification serves a statutory probate court
located in a county with more than one statutory probate court, the
presiding judge or judge assigned to decide the motion shall enter
an order of recusal or disqualification, as appropriate, and
request that the clerk who serves the statutory probate courts in
that county randomly reassign the case to a judge of one of the
other statutory probate courts located in the county.
(i-5) A judge assigned to hear a motion for recusal or
disqualification [under Subsection (i)] is entitled to receive the
same salary, compensation, and expenses, and to be paid in the same
manner and from the same fund, as a judge otherwise assigned under
Section 25.0022[, except that a judge assigned under Subsection (i)
shall provide the information required by Section 25.0022(l) to the
presiding judge of the administrative judicial district, who shall
immediately forward the information to the presiding judge of the
statutory probate courts].
(l) If a clerk of a statutory probate court is unable to
reassign a case as requested under Subsection (g)(1)(B) or (i-3)(2)
because the other statutory probate court judges in the county have
been recused or disqualified or are otherwise unavailable to hear
the case, the clerk shall immediately notify the presiding judge
[of the administrative judicial district] and request that the
presiding judge [of the administrative judicial district] assign a
judge under Section 25.002201 to hear the case.
SECTION 4. Section 26.012, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 26.012. ASSIGNMENT OF VISITING JUDGE FOR PROBATE,
GUARDIANSHIP, AND MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS. If the county judge is
absent, incapacitated, recused, or disqualified to act in a
probate, guardianship, or mental health matter, a visiting judge
shall be assigned in accordance with Section 25.0022(h).
SECTION 5. The following are repealed:
(1) Subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (h), (i),
(i-4), and (j), Section 25.00255, Government Code; and
(2) Subsection (c), Section 25.002201, Government
Code.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a motion for recusal or disqualification of a judge that is filed on
or after the effective date of this Act. A motion for recusal or
disqualification of a judge filed before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the motion was
filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.