By:  Carriker                                          S.B. No. 945
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the allocation of the judicial and court personnel
    1-2  training fund.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Section 56.003, Government Code, is amended to
    1-5  read as follows:
    1-6        Sec. 56.003. USE OF FUNDS.  (a)  The supreme court may not
    1-7  use more than three percent of the money appropriated in any one
    1-8  fiscal year to hire staff and provide for the proper administration
    1-9  of this chapter.
   1-10        (b)  No more than one-third nor less than one-fourth of the
   1-11  funds appropriated for any fiscal year shall be used for the
   1-12  continuing legal education of judges of appellate courts, district
   1-13  courts, county courts at law, and county courts performing judicial
   1-14  functions as required by the supreme court under Section 74.025 and
   1-15  of their court personnel.
   1-16        (c)  No more than one-third nor less than one-fourth of the
   1-17  funds appropriated for any fiscal year shall be used for the
   1-18  continuing legal education of judges of justice courts as required
   1-19  by the supreme court under Section 74.025 and of their court
   1-20  personnel.
   1-21        (d)  No more than one-third nor less than one-fourth of the
   1-22  funds appropriated for any fiscal year shall be used for the
   1-23  continuing legal education of judges of municipal courts as
    2-1  required by the supreme court under Section 74.025 and of their
    2-2  court personnel.
    2-3        (e)  The supreme court shall grant legal funds to statewide
    2-4  professional associations of judges <and other entities> whose
    2-5  purposes include providing continuing legal education courses,
    2-6  programs, and projects for judges and court personnel.  The
    2-7  grantees of those funds must ensure that sufficient funds are
    2-8  available for each judge to meet the minimum educational
    2-9  requirements set by the supreme court under Section 74.025 before
   2-10  any funds are awarded to a judge for education that exceeds those
   2-11  requirements.  The grantees receiving funds under this section may
   2-12  contract with statewide professional associations of court clerks
   2-13  to provide continuing education for court clerks.
   2-14        (f)  In this section, "statewide professional association of
   2-15  judges" means an organization of which at least 60 percent of the
   2-16  members are judges.
   2-17        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect August 31, 1993, and
   2-18  applies to all funds granted or distributed after that date.
   2-19        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-20  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-21  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-22  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-23  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.