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House Bill 79 |
House Author: Murr |
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Effective: 9-1-21 |
Senate Sponsor: Zaffirini |
House Bill 79 amends the Government Code to establish a program under which the presiding judge of an administrative judicial region may appoint a full‑time or part‑time associate judge to assist the region's constitutional county courts and statutory county courts, other than statutory probate courts, with guardianship and protective services proceedings. Among other provisions, the bill sets out the appointment process, methods of referring cases to the associate judge, and the qualifications, general powers, and compensation of the associate judge. The bill provides for the designation and responsibilities of the host county of the associate judge and for the appointment of personnel to assist the associate judge. The salaries of the associate judge and any appointed personnel are to be paid from money available from the federal government, county money available for payment of officers' salaries, or a combination of those sources.
House Bill 79 requires the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System (OCA) to assist the presiding judges of the administrative judicial regions in supervising, training, and evaluating associate judges appointed under the program, to develop evaluation procedures and a written evaluation form, and to develop caseload standards for the associate judges. The bill authorizes OCA to contract for available county and federal money and authorizes the presiding judges of the administrative judicial regions and counties to contract for federal money and to use public and private grants.