86R7513 TSS-D By: Watson S.B. No. 1069 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to additional qualifications of justices and judges of certain courts. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 21.0045 to read as follows: Sec. 21.0045. ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF JUSTICE OR JUDGE. (a) A person is not eligible to be a candidate for or to serve as a justice of the supreme court or a court of appeals or a judge of the court of criminal appeals, a district court, a statutory county court, or a statutory probate court unless the person has: (1) served for not less than one year as a justice or judge of a court listed in this subsection; or (2) practiced for not less than one year in a court of equivalent or greater jurisdiction than the court in which the person will serve. (b) The requirements of this section are in addition to qualifications required by Article V, Texas Constitution, and other law. SECTION 2. Section 21.0045, Government Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a judge or justice who is elected or appointed on or after the effective date of this Act. A judge or justice elected or appointed before the effective date of this Act continues to serve for the term to which the judge or justice was elected or appointed unless otherwise removed as provided by law. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.