Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1416 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R8520 LED-D
2	2	By: Raymond H.B. No. 1416
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) Except as provided by
16	16	Subsection (d), a justice of the supreme court or judge of the court
17	17	of criminal appeals shall recuse himself or herself from any case in
18	18	which the justice or judge has in the preceding four years accepted
19	19	political contributions, as defined by Section 251.001, Election
20	20	Code, in a total amount of $2,500 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	(d) A justice or judge is not required to recuse himself or
55	55	herself from a case as provided by Subsection (a) if each party in
56	56	the case who is in opposition to the party who made the political
57	57	contribution, or with whom the person who made the political
58	58	contribution is affiliated, agrees to waive the required recusal.
59	59	SECTION 2. Section 22.305, Government Code, as added by
60	60	this Act, applies only to a political contribution accepted on or
61	61	after the effective date of this Act. A political contribution
62	62	accepted before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
63	63	law in effect on the date the contribution is accepted, and the
64	64	former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
65	65	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
66	66	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
67	67	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
68	68	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
69	69	Act takes effect September 1, 2015.