Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 3306 amends provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Government Code relating to the administration of the court system and the assignment and compensation of visiting judges. The bill amends the Government Code to move certain counties from the jurisdiction of the Eighth Court of Appeals District to that of the Eleventh Court of Appeals District and to alter the judicial makeup of the courts of appeals for the Eighth Court of Appeals District and the Ninth Court of Appeals District. It establishes eligibility requirements for a retired justice or judge of the supreme court or an appellate court judge to be assigned to a court of appeals by the chief justice of the supreme court. The bill amends the corresponding requirements for a judge to be named on a list of retired and former judges who are eligible for assignment to a trial court by the presiding judge of an administrative judicial region, and it repeals a provision that exempted a former district judge with service on more than one district court from certain length-of-service requirements for eligibility to be named on a list.

            House Bill 3306 establishes deadlines for filing an objection to the assignment of a judge to a trial court by the presiding judge of an administrative judicial region or to the assignment of a judge or justice to an appellate court by the chief justice of the supreme court, exempts active judges and justices from being subject to objection, and provides for notice of assignment or objection to an assignment by electronic mail. The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to provide for the compensation of an attorney appointed by the court of criminal appeals as counsel to a person who files an application or petition for a writ of habeas corpus and to require the state's reimbursement of the county for that attorney's compensation; the bill also amends the Government Code to set the compensation of a judge or justice who sits as an assigned judge for half a day or less. The bill provides that a former, retired, or active judge is not entitled to compensation paid by the state when the judge sits as an assigned judge for a statutory county court. It defines the terms "active judge," "former judge," "retired judge," and "senior judge."

            The bill provides that the legislature may reduce or eliminate appropriations required by statute for judiciary entities or individuals under Article IV of the General Appropriations Act, and it sets forth various items of expenditure that may not exceed the amounts authorized by the General Appropriations Act.

            House Bill 3306 takes effect June 18, 2003, except for provisions relating to the Eighth Court of Appeals District, the Eleventh Court of Appeals District, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Court of Appeals District, and the salary of a retired judge or justice, which take effect September 1, 2003, and except for provisions relating to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Court of Appeals District, which take effect January 1, 2005.