BILL ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 316 By: Lucio Jurisprudence 02-07-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND The district courts in Cameron County handle cases dealing with juvenile and family law matters. These cases tend to be time consuming, and the dockets of the district courts and the county courts in Cameron County are extremely overcrowded. As of the end of the last fiscal year, the county courts have a backlog of nearly 11,000 cases pending. The backlog has increased by 2,324 cases over the last year. PURPOSE As proposed, C.S.S.B. 316 creates an additional statutory court of law in Cameron County. 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 25.0331(a), Government Code, to provide that Cameron County has three, rather than two, statutory county courts. SECTION 2. Amends Section 25.0332(a), Government Code, to provide that a Cameron County court at law (court) has concurrent jurisdiction with the district court in family law cases and juvenile matters, rather than concurrent jurisdiction with probate jurisdiction provided by general law for county courts and civil cases involving specified amounts of money. SECTION 3. Amends Section 25.0332, Government Code, by adding Subsection (b), to authorize the district court to transfer to a county court any family law case or proceeding, any juvenile matter, or any civil action over which the county court has jurisdiction. SECTION 4. Amends Section 25.0332(j), Government Code, to provide that the district clerk serves as clerk of a county court at law for family law cases and proceedings and juvenile matters, and the county clerk serves as clerk for all other cases. SECTION 5. Amends Section 25.0332(k), Government Code, to provide that the county sheriff serves the other county courts at law, rather than just the Cameron County Court at Law No. 2. SECTION 6. Effective date: September 1, 1995. SECTION 7. Emergency clause.