85R10494 SRS-F
By: Capriglione H.B. No. 3785
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to associate judges and court reporters for certain family
law cases and proceedings.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 201.004, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) A resident of the county served by the associate judge
may file with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct a petition
for removal of the associate judge. If the commission finds the
associate judge abused the judge's discretion or acted in bad faith
against a party before the associate judge, the commission may
terminate the employment of the associate judge for the court
served by the associate judge. An associate judge's employment
termination does not prevent a de novo appeal of the associate
judge's ruling to any district court in the county.
SECTION 2. Section 201.009, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 201.009. COURT REPORTER; RECORD. In [(a) A court
reporter may be provided during] a hearing held by an associate
judge appointed under this chapter, a court reporter must be
provided or the proceedings must be recorded with a good quality
electronic audio recording device. [A court reporter is required
to be provided when the associate judge presides over a jury trial
or a contested final termination hearing.
[(b) A party, the associate judge, or the referring court
may provide for a reporter during the hearing, if one is not
otherwise provided.
[(c) Except as provided by Subsection (a), in the absence of
a court reporter or on agreement of the parties, the record may be
preserved by any means approved by the associate judge.
[(d) The referring court or associate judge may tax the
expense of preserving the record under Subsection (c) as costs.
[(e) On a request for a de novo hearing, the referring court
may consider testimony or other evidence in the record in addition
to witnesses or other matters presented under Section 201.015.]
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.