86R8987 TSS-F
By: Middleton H.B. No. 1939
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of a county court at law in Chambers
County.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 25.0381 and 25.0382 to read as follows:
Sec. 25.0381. CHAMBERS COUNTY. Chambers County has one
statutory county court, the County Court at Law of Chambers County.
Sec. 25.0382. CHAMBERS COUNTY COURT AT LAW PROVISIONS. (a)
In addition to the jurisdiction provided by Section 25.0003 and
other law, a county court at law in Chambers County has the
jurisdiction provided by the constitution and by general law for
district courts, including concurrent jurisdiction in:
(1) arraignments, pleas, and pretrial motions for
felony cases;
(2) trials for felony cases transferred from a
district court in Chambers County to the county court at law; and
(3) family law cases and proceedings.
(b) In matters of concurrent jurisdiction, a judge of a
county court at law and a judge of a district court in Chambers
County may transfer cases between the courts in the same manner that
judges of district courts may transfer cases under Section 24.003.
(c) The judge of a county court at law shall be paid an
annual salary that is at least equal to the amount that is $1,000
less than the total annual salary, including supplements, received
by a district judge in the county. The salary shall be paid out of
the county treasury on order of the commissioners court.
(d) The judge of a county court at law is entitled to travel
expenses and necessary office expenses, including administrative
and clerical help, in the same manner as a district judge in the
county.
(e) The district clerk serves as clerk of a county court at
law for family cases and proceedings, and the county clerk serves as
clerk for all other cases. The commissioners court may employ as
many deputy sheriffs and bailiffs as are necessary to serve the
court.
(f) If a case or proceeding in which a county court at law
has concurrent jurisdiction with a district court is tried before a
jury, the jury shall be composed of 12 members. In all other cases,
the jury shall be composed of six members.
(g) The judge of a county court at law may, instead of
appointing an official court reporter, contract for the services of
a court reporter under guidelines established by the commissioners
court.
(h) The laws governing the drawing, selection, service, and
pay of jurors for county courts apply to a county court at law.
Jurors regularly impaneled for a week by the district court may, on
a request of a judge of the county court at law, be made available
and shall serve for the week in a county court at law.
(i) A county court at law has the same terms of court as a
district court in Chambers County.
SECTION 2. Notwithstanding Section 25.0381, Government
Code, as added by this Act, the County Court at Law of Chambers
County is created on January 1, 2021, or an earlier date determined
by the Commissioners Court of Chambers County by an order entered in
its minutes.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.