85R3643 DMS-D
By: Hall S.B. No. 246
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility of applicants for the state bar
examination.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 82.024, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 82.024. LAW STUDY REQUIREMENTS; ELIGIBILITY FOR
EXAMINATION. (a) A person who has completed the prescribed study
in an approved law school has satisfied the law study requirements
for taking the examination for a license to practice law and is
eligible to take the bar examination. An approved law school is one
that is approved by the supreme court for the time period designated
by the court as maintaining the additional standards to retain
approval.
(b) The supreme court may not adopt rules regarding the
eligibility of an applicant for examination for a license to
practice law that prohibit the applicant from taking the
examination after failing a specified number of previous
examinations.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 82, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 82.025 to read as follows:
Sec. 82.025. ATTORNEY LICENSED IN ANOTHER STATE. (a)
Notwithstanding Sections 82.024, 82.0241, and 82.036, an attorney
licensed to practice law in another state is eligible to take this
state's bar examination if the attorney:
(1) is a citizen of the United States; and
(2) satisfies all other requirements to be licensed in
this state.
(b) An attorney eligible to take the examination under this
section must comply with the procedures and deadlines prescribed by
the Texas Supreme Court.
SECTION 3. Section 82.027(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The application consists of a statement confirming
[verified affidavit stating] that, since the filing of the
applicant's original declaration of intention to study law, the
applicant:
(1) has not been formally charged with any violation
of law, excluding:
(A) cases that have been dismissed for reasons
other than technical defects in the charging instrument;
(B) cases in which the applicant has been found
not guilty;
(C) minor traffic violations;
(D) cases in which the record of arrest or
conviction was expunged by court order;
(E) pardoned offenses; and
(F) Class C misdemeanors;
(2) [is not mentally ill;
[(3)] has not been charged with fraud in any legal
proceeding; and
(3) [(4)] has not been involved in civil litigation or
bankruptcy proceedings that reasonably bear on the applicant's
fitness to practice law.
SECTION 4. Sections 82.024 and 82.027, Government Code, as
amended by this Act, apply only to an application to take the state
bar examination that is submitted to the Board of Law Examiners on
or after September 1, 2017.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.