89R10985 BCH-F
By: Hughes S.B. No. 1222
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appointment of a former or retired justice of an
appellate court as a visiting judge of a statutory probate court.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 25.0022(d), (h), (k), (o), (t), (u),
and (w), Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) The presiding judge shall:
(1) ensure the promulgation of local rules of
administration in accordance with policies and guidelines set by
the supreme court;
(2) advise local statutory probate court judges on
case flow management practices and auxiliary court services;
(3) perform a duty of a local administrative statutory
probate court judge if the local administrative judge does not
perform that duty;
(4) appoint an assistant presiding judge of the
statutory probate courts;
(5) call and preside over annual meetings of the
judges of the statutory probate courts at a time and place in the
state as designated by the presiding judge;
(6) call and convene other meetings of the judges of
the statutory probate courts as considered necessary by the
presiding judge to promote the orderly and efficient administration
of justice in the statutory probate courts;
(7) study available statistics reflecting the
condition of the dockets of the probate courts in the state to
determine the need for the assignment of judges under this section;
(8) compare local rules of court to achieve uniformity
of rules to the extent practical and consistent with local
conditions;
(9) assign or order the clerk who serves the statutory
probate courts to randomly assign a judge or former or retired judge
of a statutory probate court or a former or retired justice of an
appellate court to hear a case under Section 25.002201(a) or
25.00255, as applicable; and
(10) require the local administrative judge for
statutory probate courts in a county to ensure that all statutory
probate courts in the county comply with Chapter 37.
(h) Subject to Section 25.002201, a judge or a former or
retired judge of a statutory probate court or a former or retired
justice of an appellate court may be assigned by the presiding judge
of the statutory probate courts to hold court in a statutory probate
court, a county court, or any statutory court exercising probate
jurisdiction when:
(1) a statutory probate judge requests assignment of
another judge to the judge's court;
(2) a statutory probate judge is absent, disabled, or
disqualified for any reason;
(3) a statutory probate judge is present or is trying
cases as authorized by the constitution and laws of this state and
the condition of the court's docket makes it necessary to appoint an
additional judge;
(4) the office of a statutory probate judge is vacant;
(5) the presiding judge of an administrative judicial
district requests the assignment of a statutory probate judge to
hear a probate matter in a county court or statutory county court;
(6) the statutory probate judge is recused or
disqualified as described by Section 25.002201(a);
(7) a county court judge requests the assignment of a
statutory probate judge to hear a probate matter in the county
court; or
(8) a local administrative statutory probate court
judge requests the assignment of a statutory probate judge to hear a
matter in a statutory probate court.
(k) The daily compensation of a former or retired judge or
justice for purposes of this section is set at an amount equal to
the daily compensation of a judge of a statutory probate court in
the county in which the former or retired judge or justice is
assigned. A former or retired judge or justice assigned to a county
that does not have a statutory probate court shall be paid an amount
equal to the daily compensation of a judge of a statutory probate
court in the county where the assigned judge or justice was last
elected.
(o) The county in which the assigned judge served shall pay
out of the general fund of the county:
(1) expenses certified under Subsection (m) to the
assigned judge; and
(2) the salary certified under Subsection (m) to the
county in which the assigned judge serves, or, if the assigned judge
is a former or retired judge or justice, to the assigned judge.
(t) To be eligible for assignment under this section, a
former or retired judge of a statutory probate court or a former or
retired justice of an appellate court must:
(1) not have been removed from office;
(2) certify under oath to the presiding judge, on a
form prescribed by the state board of regional judges, that:
(A) the judge or justice has not been publicly
reprimanded or censured by the State Commission on Judicial
Conduct; and
(B) the judge or justice:
(i) did not resign or retire from office
after the State Commission on Judicial Conduct notified the judge
or justice of the commencement of a full investigation into an
allegation or appearance of misconduct or disability of the judge
or justice as provided in Section 33.022 and before the final
disposition of that investigation; or
(ii) if the judge or justice did resign from
office under circumstances described by Subparagraph (i), was not
publicly reprimanded or censured as a result of the investigation;
(3) annually demonstrate that the judge or justice has
completed in the past state fiscal year the educational
requirements for an active statutory probate court judge;
(4) have served as an active judge or justice for at
least 72 months in a district, statutory probate, statutory county,
or appellate court; and
(5) have developed substantial experience in the
judge's or justice's area of specialty.
(u) In addition to the eligibility requirements under
Subsection (t), to be eligible for assignment under this section in
the judge's or justice's county of residence, a former or retired
judge of a statutory probate court or a former or retired justice of
an appellate court must certify to the presiding judge a
willingness not to:
(1) appear and plead as an attorney in any court in the
judge's county of residence for a period of two years; and
(2) accept appointment as a guardian ad litem,
guardian of the estate of an incapacitated person, or guardian of
the person of an incapacitated person in any court in the judge's or
justice's county of residence for a period of two years.
(w) A former or retired judge or justice who is assigned
under this section is not an employee of the county in which the
assigned court is located.
SECTION 2. Section 25.002201, Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 25.002201. ASSIGNMENT OF JUDGE ON RECUSAL OR
DISQUALIFICATION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), not
later than the 15th day after the date an order of recusal or
disqualification of a statutory probate court judge is issued in a
case, the presiding judge shall assign a statutory probate court
judge or a former or retired judge of a statutory probate court or a
former or retired justice of an appellate court to hear the case if:
(1) the judge of the statutory probate court recused
himself or herself under Section 25.00255(g)(1)(A);
(2) the judge of the statutory probate court
disqualified himself or herself under Section 25.00255(g-1);
(3) the order was issued under Section
25.00255(i-3)(1); or
(4) the presiding judge receives notice and a request
for assignment from the clerk of the statutory probate court under
Section 25.00255(l).
(b) If the judge who is the subject of an order of recusal or
disqualification is the presiding judge of the statutory probate
courts, the chief justice of the supreme court shall assign a
statutory probate judge, [or] a former or retired judge of a
statutory probate court, or a former or retired justice of an
appellate court to hear the case.
SECTION 3. Section 25.00255(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding any conflicting provision in the Texas
Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 18a and 18b, Texas Rules of Civil
Procedure, apply to the recusal and disqualification of a statutory
probate court judge except as otherwise provided by this section or
another provision of this subchapter. The presiding judge:
(1) has the authority and shall perform the functions
and duties of the presiding judge of the administrative judicial
region under the rules, including the duty to hear or rule on a
referred motion of recusal or disqualification or, subject to
Subdivisions (2) and (3), assign a judge to hear and rule on a
referred motion of recusal or disqualification;
(2) may assign a presiding judge of the administrative
judicial region to hear and rule on a referred motion of recusal or
disqualification only with the consent of the presiding judge of
the administrative judicial region;
(3) may not assign a judge of a statutory probate court
located in the same county as the statutory probate court served by
the judge who is the subject of the motion of recusal or
disqualification; and
(4) if the presiding judge is the subject of the motion
of recusal or disqualification, shall sign and file with the clerk
an order referring the motion to the chief justice of the supreme
court for assignment of a presiding judge of an administrative
judicial region, a statutory probate court judge, [or] a former or
retired judge of a statutory probate court, or a former or retired
justice of an appellate court to hear and rule on the motion,
subject to Subdivisions (2) and (3).
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.