1-1 By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1448
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 13, 1995; March 20, 1995, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
1-4 April 19, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 7,
1-5 Nays 0; April 19, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to certain former and retired judges serving as visiting
1-9 judges.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 74.003, Government Code, is amended by
1-12 amending Subsections (b), (c), and (e) and by adding Subsection (g)
1-13 to read as follows:
1-14 (b) The chief justice of the supreme court may assign a
1-15 qualified retired or former justice or judge of the supreme court,
1-16 of the court of criminal appeals, or of a court of appeals to a
1-17 court of appeals for active service regardless of whether a vacancy
1-18 exists in the court to which the justice is assigned.
1-19 (c) An active, <or> retired, or former justice or judge
1-20 assigned as provided by this section out of the county of his
1-21 residence is entitled to receive the same expenses and per diem as
1-22 those allowed a district judge assigned as provided by Subchapter
1-23 C. The state shall pay the expenses and per diem on certificates
1-24 of approval by the chief justice of the supreme court or the chief
1-25 justice of the court of appeals to which the justice or judge is
1-26 assigned. The compensation authorized by this subsection is in
1-27 addition to all other compensation authorized by law.
1-28 (e) A retired or former justice or judge assigned as
1-29 provided by this section is entitled to receive, pro rata for the
1-30 time serving on assignment, from money appropriated from the
1-31 general revenue fund for that purpose, an amount equal to the
1-32 compensation received from state and county sources by a justice of
1-33 the court of appeals to which assigned.
1-34 (g) An assignment under this section is subject to the
1-35 requirements of Section 74.055.
1-36 SECTION 2. Subdivisions (2) and (3), Section 74.041,
1-37 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-38 (2) "Former judge" or "former justice" means a person
1-39 who was elected or appointed by the governor to an appellate,
1-40 district, statutory, or county court and who is not:
1-41 (A) serving as a judge of one of those courts;
1-42 and
1-43 (B) eligible to be a retiree.
1-44 (3) "Presiding judge" means the presiding judge of an
1-45 administrative region.
1-46 (4) <(3)> "Retiree" means a person who has retired
1-47 under the Judicial Retirement System of Texas, the Judicial
1-48 Retirement System of Texas Plan One, or the Judicial Retirement
1-49 System of Texas Plan Two.
1-50 SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 74.0551, Government Code,
1-51 is amended to read as follows:
1-52 (b) A retired or former judge's <judge shall make an>
1-53 initial certification of willingness not to appear and plead that
1-54 is <not later than the 90th day after the date the person leaves
1-55 active service. An initial certification> made before the judge
1-56 leaves active service extends through December 31 of the year
1-57 following the year in which the judge leaves active service. An
1-58 initial certification made after the judge leaves active service
1-59 extends through December 31 of the year following the year in which
1-60 the certification is made.
1-61 SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 74, Government Code, is
1-62 amended by adding Section 74.0561 to read as follows:
1-63 Sec. 74.0561. FORMER STATUTORY AND CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTY
1-64 COURT JUDGES. A former statutory or constitutional county court
1-65 judge may elect to become a judicial officer by:
1-66 (1) sending notice to the presiding judge of the
1-67 judicial region in which the electing judge resides not later than
1-68 the 90th day after the date the judge leaves office; and
2-1 (2) complying with the requirements of Section 74.055.
2-2 SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 75.002, Government Code,
2-3 is amended to read as follows:
2-4 (b) In addition to an assignment under Section 74.003 and
2-5 Subsection (a)(1), the chief justice of the supreme court may
2-6 assign a retiree whose last judicial office before retirement was
2-7 justice or judge of the supreme court, the court of criminal
2-8 appeals, or a court of appeals to the administrative judicial
2-9 region in which the retiree resides for reassignment by the
2-10 presiding judge of that region to a district or statutory county
2-11 court in the region. An assignment by the chief justice of the
2-12 supreme court or the <The> reassignment by a presiding judge is
2-13 subject to the requirements of Section 74.055. The assignment by
2-14 the chief justice of a retiree to the administrative region of the
2-15 retiree's residence continues only during the period for which the
2-16 retiree has certified a willingness to serve under Section 74.0551.
2-17 SECTION 6. (a) Subsection (d), Section 74.053, Government
2-18 Code, is repealed.
2-19 (b) Subchapter C, Chapter 75, Government Code, is repealed.
2-20 SECTION 7. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
2-21 applies to a former judge or former justice assigned to a civil or
2-22 criminal case on or after that date. An assignment of a former
2-23 judge or former justice made before the effective date of this Act
2-24 is covered by the law in effect on the date the assignment was
2-25 made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-26 (b) The changes in Section 74.0551, Government Code, made by
2-27 this Act relating to a retired or former judge's initial
2-28 certification of willingness not to appear and serve as an attorney
2-29 in court apply only to a judge who leaves active service on or
2-30 after the effective date of this Act. A judge who leaves active
2-31 service before that date is governed by the law in effect when that
2-32 judge left active service, and the prior law is continued in effect
2-33 for that purpose.
2-34 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
2-35 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-36 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-37 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-38 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-39 * * * * *