By: Shapiro S.B. No. 1361
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the creation of a statutory county court in Kaufman
1-2 County.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Government Code, is
1-5 amended by adding Sections 25.1311 and 25.1312 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 25.1311. KAUFMAN COUNTY. Kaufman County has one
1-7 statutory county court, the County Court at Law of Kaufman County.
1-8 Sec. 25.1312. KAUFMAN COUNTY COURT AT LAW PROVISIONS.
1-9 (a) In addition to the jurisdiction provided by Section 25.0003
1-10 and other law, a statutory county court in Kaufman County has,
1-11 except as limited by Subsection (b), the jurisdiction provided by
1-12 the constitution and general law for district courts.
1-13 (b) A statutory county court in Kaufman County does not have
1-14 general supervisory control or appellate review of the
1-15 commissioners court or jurisdiction of:
1-16 (1) felony cases involving capital murder;
1-17 (2) suits on behalf of the state to recover penalties
1-18 or escheated property;
1-19 (3) misdemeanors involving official misconduct; or
1-20 (4) contested elections.
1-21 (c) The district clerk serves as clerk of a statutory county
1-22 court except that the county clerk serves as clerk of the
1-23 statutory county court in matters of mental health, probate,
2-1 juvenile and criminal misdemeanor docket, and all civil matters in
2-2 which the statutory county court does not have concurrent
2-3 jurisdiction with the district court.
2-4 (d) Jurors regularly impaneled for the week by the district
2-5 courts may, at the request of a statutory county court judge, be
2-6 made available by the district judge in the numbers requested and
2-7 shall serve for the week or until released in the statutory county
2-8 court.
2-9 (e) A statutory county court may summon jurors through the
2-10 county clerk for service in the statutory county court in the
2-11 manner provided by the laws governing the drawing, selection, and
2-12 service of jurors for county courts. Jurors summoned shall be paid
2-13 in the same manner and at the same rate as jurors for district
2-14 courts in Kaufman County. By order of the judge of a statutory
2-15 county court, jurors summoned to the statutory county court may be
2-16 transferred to the district court for service in noncapital felony
2-17 cases.
2-18 (f) Notwithstanding Sections 74.091 and 74.0911, a district
2-19 judge serves as the local administrative judge for the district and
2-20 statutory county courts in Kaufman County. The judges of district
2-21 courts shall elect a district judge as local administrative judge
2-22 for a term of not more than two years. The local administrative
2-23 judge may not be elected on the basis of rotation or seniority.
2-24 (g) When administering a case for the statutory county
2-25 court, the district clerk shall charge civil fees and court costs
3-1 as if the case had been filed in the district court. In a case of
3-2 concurrent jurisdiction, the case shall be assigned to either the
3-3 district court or statutory county court in accordance with local
3-4 administrative rules established by the local administrative judge.
3-5 (h) The judge of the statutory county court shall appoint an
3-6 official court reporter for the court and shall set the official
3-7 court reporter's annual salary, subject to approval by the county
3-8 commissioners court. The official court reporter of the statutory
3-9 county court shall take an oath or affirmation as an officer of the
3-10 court, holds office at the pleasure of the judge of the court, and
3-11 shall be provided a private office in close proximity to the court.
3-12 The official court reporter is entitled to all rights and benefits
3-13 afforded all other county employees.
3-14 (i) With the approval of the county commissioners court and
3-15 through the county budget process, the judge of the statutory
3-16 county court shall hire a staff. The staff of the judge of the
3-17 statutory county court consists of a court coordinator and a
3-18 bailiff. Court personnel employed under this subsection are
3-19 entitled to receive a salary set by the commissioners court and
3-20 other employment benefits received by county employees.
3-21 (j) Not later than one year after the date of appointment,
3-22 the bailiff of a statutory county court must have received a peace
3-23 officer license under Chapter 415 from the Commission on Law
3-24 Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. The sheriff of
3-25 Kaufman County shall deputize the bailiff of a statutory county
4-1 court. The bailiff of a statutory county court is subject to the
4-2 training and continuing education requirements of a sheriff's
4-3 deputy of the county. The sheriff shall remove from office a
4-4 bailiff who does not receive a peace officer license within one
4-5 year of appointment as required by this subsection.
4-6 (k) The judge of a statutory county court must be a United
4-7 States citizen at the time of appointment or election.
4-8 (l) The judge of a statutory county court shall diligently
4-9 discharge the duties of the office on a full-time basis and may not
4-10 engage in the private practice of law.
4-11 (m) In matters of concurrent jurisdiction, the judge of a
4-12 statutory county court and the district judge may exchange benches,
4-13 transfer cases, subject to acceptance, assign each other to hear
4-14 cases, and otherwise manage their respective dockets under local
4-15 administrative rules.
4-16 (n) The judge of a statutory county court has the same
4-17 judicial immunity as a district judge.
4-18 SECTION 2. The County Court at Law of Kaufman County is
4-19 created and this Act takes effect January 1, 1995.
4-20 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.