89R15614 BCH-D
By: Martinez Fischer H.B. No. 4278
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the assignment as a visiting judge of certain retired
and former constitutional county court judges and justices of the
peace.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 74.054(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c), the
following judges may be assigned as provided by this chapter by the
presiding judge of the administrative region in which the assigned
judge resides:
(1) an active district, constitutional county, or
statutory county court judge in this state;
(2) a senior judge who has consented to be subject to
assignment and who is on the list maintained by the presiding judge
under this chapter;
(3) a former district or appellate judge, retired or
former statutory probate court judge, [or] retired or former
statutory county court judge, or, as applicable, a retired or
former constitutional county court judge or justice of the peace
who certifies to the presiding judge a willingness to serve and who
is on the list maintained by the presiding judge as required by this
chapter;
(4) a retiree or a former judge whose last judicial
office before retirement was justice or judge of the supreme court,
the court of criminal appeals, or a court of appeals and who has
been assigned by the chief justice to the administrative judicial
region in which the retiree or former judge resides for
reassignment by the presiding judge of that region to a district or
statutory county court in the region; and
(5) an active judge or justice of the supreme court,
the court of criminal appeals, or a court of appeals who has had
trial court experience.
SECTION 2. Section 74.055, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c) and (e) and adding Subsection (d) to read
as follows:
(c) To be eligible to be named on the list, a retired or
former judge must:
(1) except as provided by Subsection (d), have served
as an active judge for at least 96 months in a district, statutory
probate, statutory county, or appellate court;
(2) have developed substantial experience in the
judge's area of specialty;
(3) not have been removed from office;
(4) certify under oath to the presiding judge, on a
form prescribed by the state board of regional judges, that:
(A) the judge has never been publicly reprimanded
or censured by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct; and
(B) the judge:
(i) did not resign or retire from office
after the State Commission on Judicial Conduct notified the judge
of the commencement of a full investigation into an allegation or
appearance of misconduct or disability of the judge as provided in
Section 33.022 and before the final disposition of that
investigation; or
(ii) if the judge did resign from office
under circumstances described by Subparagraph (i), was not publicly
reprimanded or censured as a result of the investigation;
(5) annually demonstrate that the judge has completed
in the past state fiscal year the educational requirements for
active district, statutory probate, and statutory county court
judges; and
(6) certify to the presiding judge a willingness not
to appear and plead as an attorney in any court in this state for a
period of two years.
(d) If a presiding judge of an administrative region is
unable to name to the list a sufficient number of eligible retired
or former judges to dispose of the accumulated business in the
region, the presiding judge may consider service as a
constitutional county court judge or a justice of the peace toward
the 96-month active service requirement described by Subsection
(c)(1) when naming an eligible retired or former judge to the list.
(e) For purposes of Subsections [Subsection] (c)(1) and
(d), a month of service is calculated as a calendar month or a
portion of a calendar month in which a judge was authorized by
election or appointment to preside.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.