| 1 | 1 | | 87R11176 ANG-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Anderson H.B. No. 4632 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the creation of an additional county court at law in |
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| 8 | 8 | | McLennan County and the operation of the county courts at law in |
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| 9 | 9 | | that county. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 25.1571, Government Code, is amended to |
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| 12 | 12 | | read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | Sec. 25.1571. MCLENNAN COUNTY. McLennan County has the |
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| 14 | 14 | | following statutory county courts: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) County Court at Law of McLennan County; [and] |
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| 16 | 16 | | (2) County Court at Law No. 2 of McLennan County; and |
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| 17 | 17 | | (3) County Court at Law No. 3 of McLennan County. |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 2. Section 25.1572, Government Code, is amended by |
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| 19 | 19 | | amending Subsections (a), (d), and (i) and adding Subsection (e) to |
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| 20 | 20 | | read as follows: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (a) In addition to the jurisdiction provided by Section |
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| 22 | 22 | | 25.0003 and other law, a county court at law in McLennan County has: |
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| 23 | 23 | | (1) concurrent jurisdiction with the district court in |
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| 24 | 24 | | state jail, third degree, and second degree felony cases on |
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| 25 | 25 | | assignment from a district judge presiding in McLennan County and |
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| 26 | 26 | | acceptance of the assignment by the judge of the county court at law |
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| 27 | 27 | | [and jurisdiction] to: |
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| 28 | 28 | | (A) conduct arraignments; |
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| 29 | 29 | | (B) [,] conduct pretrial hearings; |
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| 30 | 30 | | (C) [,] accept guilty pleas and conduct |
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| 31 | 31 | | sentencing; |
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| 32 | 32 | | (D) conduct jury trials and nonjury trials; |
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| 33 | 33 | | (E) [, and] conduct probation revocation |
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| 34 | 34 | | hearings; and |
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| 35 | 35 | | (F) conduct post-trial proceedings; and |
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| 36 | 36 | | (2) jurisdiction in: |
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| 37 | 37 | | (A) Class A and Class B misdemeanor cases; |
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| 38 | 38 | | (B) probate proceedings; |
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| 39 | 39 | | (C) disputes ancillary to probate, eminent |
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| 40 | 40 | | domain, condemnation, or landlord and tenant matters relating to |
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| 41 | 41 | | the adjudication and determination of land titles and trusts, |
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| 42 | 42 | | whether testamentary, inter vivos, constructive, resulting, or any |
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| 43 | 43 | | other class or type of trust, regardless of the amount in |
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| 44 | 44 | | controversy or the remedy sought; and |
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| 45 | 45 | | (D) appeals from the justice and municipal courts |
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| 46 | 46 | | [in felony cases]. |
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| 47 | 47 | | (d) A judge of a county court at law shall be paid a total |
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| 48 | 48 | | [an] annual salary set by the commissioners court in an amount that |
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| 49 | 49 | | is not less than $1,000 less than the annual salary received by a |
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| 50 | 50 | | district judge with equivalent years of service as a judge, as |
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| 51 | 51 | | provided under Section 25.0005, to be paid out of the county |
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| 52 | 52 | | treasury by the commissioners court [of not more than $20,000. Each |
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| 53 | 53 | | judge receives the same amount as salary. The salary shall be paid |
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| 54 | 54 | | out of the county treasury by the commissioners court]. |
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| 55 | 55 | | (e) The district clerk serves as clerk of a county court at |
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| 56 | 56 | | law in matters of concurrent jurisdiction with the district court, |
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| 57 | 57 | | and the county clerk serves as clerk of a county court at law in all |
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| 58 | 58 | | other matters. Each clerk shall establish a separate docket for a |
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| 59 | 59 | | county court at law. |
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| 60 | 60 | | (i) The official court reporter of a county court at law is |
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| 61 | 61 | | entitled to receive the same compensation and to be paid in the same |
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| 62 | 62 | | manner as the court reporters of the district courts in McLennan |
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| 63 | 63 | | County. |
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| 64 | 64 | | SECTION 3. The County Court at Law No. 3 of McLennan County |
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| 65 | 65 | | is created on the effective date of this Act. |
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| 66 | 66 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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