By Wentworth S.B. No. 1448
74R6679 MLR-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain former and retired judges serving as visiting
1-3 judges.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 74.003, Government Code, is amended by
1-6 amending Subsections (b), (c), and (e) and adding Subsection (g) to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 (b) The chief justice of the supreme court may assign a
1-9 qualified retired or former justice or judge of the supreme court,
1-10 of the court of criminal appeals, or of a court of appeals to a
1-11 court of appeals for active service regardless of whether a vacancy
1-12 exists in the court to which the justice is assigned.
1-13 (c) An active, <or> retired, or former justice or judge
1-14 assigned as provided by this section out of the county of his
1-15 residence is entitled to receive the same expenses and per diem as
1-16 those allowed a district judge assigned as provided by Subchapter
1-17 C. The state shall pay the expenses and per diem on certificates
1-18 of approval by the chief justice of the supreme court or the chief
1-19 justice of the court of appeals to which the justice or judge is
1-20 assigned. The compensation authorized by this subsection is in
1-21 addition to all other compensation authorized by law.
1-22 (e) A retired or former justice or judge assigned as
1-23 provided by this section is entitled to receive, pro rata for the
1-24 time serving on assignment, from money appropriated from the
2-1 general revenue fund for that purpose, an amount equal to the
2-2 compensation received from state and county sources by a justice of
2-3 the court of appeals to which assigned.
2-4 (g) An assignment under this section is subject to the
2-5 requirements of Section 74.055.
2-6 SECTION 2. Section 74.041, Government Code, is amended by
2-7 adding Subdivision (2) and renumbering the remaining subdivisions
2-8 to read as follows:
2-9 (2) "Former judge" or "former justice" means a person
2-10 who was elected or appointed by the governor to an appellate,
2-11 district, statutory, or county court and who is not:
2-12 (A) serving as a judge of one of those courts;
2-13 and
2-14 (B) eligible to be a retiree.
2-15 (3) "Presiding judge" means the presiding judge of an
2-16 administrative region.
2-17 (4) <(3)> "Retiree" means a person who has retired
2-18 under the Judicial Retirement System of Texas, the Judicial
2-19 Retirement System of Texas Plan One, or the Judicial Retirement
2-20 System of Texas Plan Two.
2-21 SECTION 3. Section 74.0551(b), Government Code, is amended
2-22 to read as follows:
2-23 (b) A retired or former judge's <judge shall make an>
2-24 initial certification of willingness not to appear and plead that
2-25 is <not later than the 90th day after the date the person leaves
2-26 active service. An initial certification> made before the judge
2-27 leaves active service extends through December 31 of the year
3-1 following the year in which the judge leaves active service. An
3-2 initial certification made after the judge leaves active service
3-3 extends through December 31 of the year following the year in which
3-4 the certification is made.
3-5 SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 74, Government Code, is
3-6 amended by adding Section 74.0561 to read as follows:
3-7 Sec. 74.0561. FORMER STATUTORY AND CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTY
3-8 COURT JUDGES. A former statutory or constitutional county court
3-9 judge may elect to become a judicial officer by:
3-10 (1) sending notice to the presiding judge of the
3-11 judicial region in which the electing judge resides not later than
3-12 the 90th day after the date the judge leaves office; and
3-13 (2) complying with the requirements of Section 74.055.
3-14 SECTION 5. Section 75.002(b), Government Code, is amended to
3-15 read as follows:
3-16 (b) In addition to an assignment under Section 74.003 and
3-17 Subsection (a)(1), the chief justice of the supreme court may
3-18 assign a retiree whose last judicial office before retirement was
3-19 justice or judge of the supreme court, the court of criminal
3-20 appeals, or a court of appeals to the administrative judicial
3-21 region in which the retiree resides for reassignment by the
3-22 presiding judge of that region to a district or statutory county
3-23 court in the region. An assignment by the chief justice of the
3-24 supreme court or the <The> reassignment by a presiding judge is
3-25 subject to the requirements of Section 74.055. The assignment by
3-26 the chief justice of a retiree to the administrative region of the
3-27 retiree's residence continues only during the period for which the
4-1 retiree has certified a willingness to serve under Section 74.0551.
4-2 SECTION 6. (a) Section 74.053(d), Government Code, is
4-3 repealed.
4-4 (b) Subchapter C, Chapter 75, Government Code, is repealed.
4-5 SECTION 7. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
4-6 applies to a former judge or former justice assigned to a civil or
4-7 criminal case on or after that date. An assignment of a former
4-8 judge or former justice made before the effective date of this Act
4-9 is covered by the law in effect on the date the assignment was
4-10 made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-11 (b) The changes in Section 74.0551, Government Code, made by
4-12 this Act relating to a retired or former judge's initial
4-13 certification of willingness not to appear and serve as an attorney
4-14 in court apply only to a judge who leaves active service on or
4-15 after the effective date of this Act. A judge who leaves active
4-16 service before that date is governed by the law in effect when that
4-17 judge left active service, and the prior law is continued in effect
4-18 for that purpose.
4-19 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
4-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.