By: Thompson, S. H.C.R. No. 1 73R956 CCK-D CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Numerous legislative studies and independent 1-2 analyses have recommended greater state funding of district courts, 1-3 an area of state expenditure in which Texas lags in comparison to 1-4 almost every other state; and 1-5 WHEREAS, Budgetary cutbacks have abolished the district court 1-6 support fund, which was designed to improve the efficiency of state 1-7 district courts and to render them less reliant on the provision of 1-8 county government support services; and 1-9 WHEREAS, Without assurance of minimum state financial 1-10 support, district courts must compete with entities of county 1-11 government for scarce local funds, a necessity that detracts from 1-12 judicial independence and requires that judges devote inordinate 1-13 amounts of time to burdensome nonjudicial duties; and 1-14 WHEREAS, A 1992 survey of district judges by the House 1-15 Committee on Judicial Affairs indicates that state funding for 1-16 support personnel and implementation of computerized docketing are 1-17 the two most frequent recommendations for improving the efficiency 1-18 of state district courts; and 1-19 WHEREAS, Provision of a uniform, minimum number of support 1-20 personnel for each court would eliminate wide variances that exist 1-21 across the state and allow for more accurate work load, 1-22 performance, and cost comparisons among courts; and 1-23 WHEREAS, Computerized docketing management software has been 1-24 developed and is used by appellate courts but generally is not 2-1 available to district courts because of financial limitations; and 2-2 WHEREAS, Methods of funding these valuable improvements in 2-3 our judicial system must be identified for the state to adequately 2-4 support its district courts; now, therefore, be it 2-5 RESOLVED, That the 73rd Legislature of the State of Texas 2-6 hereby direct the House Committee on Judicial Affairs and the 2-7 Senate Committee on Jurisprudence to conduct a joint interim study 2-8 on support personnel and computerized docketing systems for 2-9 district courts; and, be it further 2-10 RESOLVED, That the two committees jointly develop and 2-11 recommend methods to pay for the costs of a uniform minimum number 2-12 of support personnel and a uniform computerized docketing system 2-13 for each district court; and, be it further 2-14 RESOLVED, That the committees make a complete report of their 2-15 findings and recommendations to the 74th Legislature when it 2-16 convenes in January 1995.