BILL ANALYSIS H.J.R. 90 By: Thompson (Whitmire) Jurisprudence 5-26-95 Senate Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Only Texas and Oklahoma have separate courts of last resort for criminal and civil matters. Since the Oklahoma court has the authority to decide questions of jurisdiction between the two courts, Texas is the only state with a completely separate high court structure. The Citizen's Commission on the Texas Judicial System (commission), which issued its report to the supreme court and the Texas Judicial Council in 1992, recommended merging the supreme court and the court of criminal appeals. The commission found that on several occasions in the last century, the courts had disagreed on certain questions. The court recommended by this report would still consist of two divisions but would be able to operate as one court when questions of joint jurisdiction occurred. Political reality has made this proposal impractical. Section 3-c, Article V, Texas Constitution, was added in 1985, to allow the supreme court and the court of criminal appeals to answer questions of state law certified from federal courts and to promulgate rules of procedure relating to review of those questions. Allowing similar communications between the two high courts may aid the separation of high court functions, without necessitating a merger of the two courts. PURPOSE As proposed, H.J.R. 90 requires the submission to the voters of a constitutional amendment to authorize the supreme court and the court of criminal appeals to answer certified questions of law from the other court. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 3-c, Article V, Texas Constitution, as follows: Sec. 3-c. (a) Makes no changes. (b) Provides that the supreme court has jurisdiction to answer questions of law, other than criminal law, certified from the court of criminal appeals. (c) Provides that the court of criminal appeals has jurisdiction to answer questions of criminal law certified from the supreme court. (d) Redesignates existing Subsection (b). SECTION 2. Adds the following temporary provision to the Texas Constitution: TEMPORARY PROVISION. (a) Applies this temporary provision to the constitutional amendment proposed by the 74th Legislature granting the supreme court jurisdiction to answer questions of law certified from the court of criminal appeals and granting the court of criminal appeals jurisdiction to answer questions of law certified from the supreme court. (b) Effective date: September 1, 1996. (c) Provides that this provision expires January 2, 1996. SECTION 3. Requires this proposed constitutional amendment to be submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 7, 1995. Sets forth the required language for the ballot.